Matt Mackowiak, the Travis County GOP chairman, co-founder of Save Austin Now, and president of Potomac Strategy, has announced he is running for Texas GOP chair.
Mackowiak posted on X Friday morning to announce his candidacy.
“MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT: I’m running for @TexasGOP chair to save Texas, help @realDonaldTrump save America, re-elect @tedcruz, raise money and advance our conservative platform and priorities,” he wrote.
The announcement was shared alongside a blog post where Mackowiak claimed the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is in “the worst shape in the modern era.”
“The cold reality is that RPT is inexplicably and unacceptably unprepared for the most important election in our lifetime. It does not have to be this way,” wrote Mackowiak.
“One thing is abundantly clear: It is time for a change at RPT,” he continued. “President Donald Trump needs it. Senator Ted Cruz needs it. Texas needs it. America needs it. The time is now.”
Mackowiak’s announcement came just six days before the election at next week’s Republican Convention.
In a radio interview with talk host Mark Davis, Mackowiak said he believes three of the current candidates, Dana Myers, Mike Garcia, and Ben Armenta, are “fine.” His main goal is to prevent former Collin County GOP chair Abraham George from becoming the next state chairman.
Mackowiak reportedly asked Myers, Garcia, and Armenta to drop out of the race and endorse him, according to The Texan.
Armenta told The Texan he found it “insulting” and would not consider dropping out of the race.
Attorney General Ken Paxton publicly endorsed George in March.
“Abraham is a principled conservative who served well as a [State Republican Executive Committee] member and chairman of the Collin GOP,” said Paxton on X. “@abrahamgeorge was a strong fundraiser while uniting the Party behind our shared values.”
Mackowiak and Paxton have publicly feuded, as Mackowiak supported the impeachment of Paxton in September 2023.
Following Mackowiak’s announcement of his candidacy, DC_Draino, a popular X user who has amassed over a million followers, called Mackowiak “the Bush Swamp that We the People are fighting to destroy.”
Current GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi has also publicly endorsed George. In a statement to The Texan, Rinaldi referred to Mackowiak as “a grifter and a self promoter” responsible for “[running] the Travis County Republican Party in the ground.”
“He talks about the party finances which are good but he couldn’t even pay as $1,000 a month rent for nine months and had the Travis County Republican Party in debt,” Rinaldi added. “And perhaps he’s best known for his profanity laced tirade, threatening the only Republican female city council member and often so he’s an absolutely unacceptable candidate.”
“We don’t need a party that’s going to be the property of Karl Rove and TLR. We need a party that’s going to be a grassroots party. And I do have faith in the grassroots that they’re going to reject Matt, and choose someone like Abraham George is going to lead us in the right direction,” Rinaldi said.
Others have spoken out in support of Mackowiak. Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Waco) said Mackowiak “has the energy and enthusiasm to lead Republican get out the vote and fundraising campaigns into the fall elections.”
John Huffman, former mayor of Southlake, also expressed his support.
“Matt has our complete and total endorsement,” said Huffman on X. “This is great news.”
The Texas GOP Convention is scheduled for May 23 and will run through May 25 in San Antonio.
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