Featured Voice of the Texas GOP: Matt Strawn

Matthew N. Strawn, a fifth generation Iowan and Eastern Iowa native, has served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa since January 2009.

Following a successful career as a public servant on Capitol Hill, where he served as Chief of Staff and Counsel to a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and was twice-named by The Hill newspaper of one of the top 35 under 35 in Washington, DC, Matt returned home to Iowa in 2007 with his wife to raise their young children.

Upon his return to the Hawkeye State, Matt channeled his entrepreneurial spirit into private enterprise. The most notable of those endeavors being one of the principal players in bringing top-level professional football back to Iowa when he and business partner, Jeff Lamberti, announced in 2007 that they were leading an ownership group to return arena football and the Iowa Barnstormers to Des Moines. Since the team's return, the Barnstormers organization has been consistently recognized as one of the best operated and most successful franchises in all of arena football.

Additionally, Matt is a founding partner of Riverside Partners, Inc., an Ankeny-based public relations and capital development firm, as well as part of the management team of Nathan Strawn Farms, Inc., which operates his family's farm in Benton County.

During his first year as Chairman, Matt's efforts to rebuild the Iowa GOP have not gone unnoticed as he has been a constant presence at county meetings, fundraisers, and public affairs programs touting the need to return conservative, principled government to the citizens of Iowa. The Politico newspaper has named Matt as an "emerging political star" to watch, while the Des Moines Register noted that Strawn's "youth and appeal" have put the party on "the right track" as he "is getting high marks for traveling the state and rallying activists."

Matt is a graduate of the Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law (J.D. 2003), where he graduated first in his law school class; the University of Iowa (B.A. 1996); and, Benton Community High School (Van Horne, Iowa), where he is a member of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Matt resides with his wife, Erin, and their three small children in Ankeny. 

“Given how fluid the field has been developing, and really how unsettled it has been to this stage, this is the first time an actual voter in the kickoff state will fill in an oval next to the candidate they believe should be the Republican nominee to go up against Barack Obama."