Matt Mackowiak

Matt Mackowiak (Mack-o-VEE-yack) is a longtime Austin political consultant and GOP operative. He is the chair of the Travis County Republican Party and co-founder of Save Austin Now, a political action committee involved in ballot initiatives on policing and homeless encampments. Mackowiack was part of a 2024 election lawsuit and ran for a position on the Travis County Appraisal Review Board.

Mackowiak has appeared on Fox News, MSNBC, BBC News, CBC-TV and regularly provides political analysis on Austin's Fox 7 station. His byline on op-eds has appeared in the Austin American-Statesman and on web sites such as The Huffington Post.

Early life and education At age 4 Mackowiak moved from Ohio for his father's job with Motorola. He want to Canyon Vista Middle School and Westwood High School in northwest Austin. Attending University of Texas he found a community joining the Texas Cowboys student organization.

Washington era During the 2003 legislative session, an internship for a lobbyist led to an interview for a job in Washington D.C., where Mackowiak moved upon graduating from UT.

In D.C., he was an assistant at the Department of Homeland Security under the George W. Bush administration. In 2007, he got his first significant position as the press secretary for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. In April 2009, Mackowiak left his office, and in June, he launched the Potomac Strategy Group, stating that he wanted to build a business and become a political consultant. Although he was not employed by Hutchison, he defended her on Twitter and criticized Rick Perry, her opponent. As tent camps popped up around Austin, SAN initiated a ballot proposition to re-criminalize lying down on public sidewalks, panhandling and sleeping outdoors in certain parts of the city. SAN describes itself as a nonpartisan citizen's group dedicated to Austin's quality of life.

Their efforts garnered wide support, including from John Mackey; Robert Rowling of Omni Hotels & Resorts; Michael Barron, a law partner of Mayor Steve Adler; Governor Greg Abbott; writer-director Mike Judge; as well as a company led by Eddie Margain, a co-founder of Austin FC.

SAN raised an additional $1.9 million, the second highest amount in an Austin city election and succeeded in putting the proposition on the May 2021 ballot. SAN ultimately spent over a year gathering its signatures and mailed their proposed ordinance to every Austin voter. That exposure and spending was enough to generate the highest turnout in a May election since 1994.

The Save Austin Now's anti-camping proposition received a 58%-42% victory, but it had almost no practical effect because a statewide version of a camping ban took effect and preempted the proposition. On election night the Austin Police Association released a statement acknowledging Save Austin Now and thanking them.

The three board seats were elected at large. Mackowiack filed to run in Place 2 and faced candidates Jonathan Patschke and Daniel Wang. Shenghao “Daniel” Wang won Place 2 by a wide margin, defeating Mackowiak and Patshcke.

Republican Party office Mackowiak became the chair of the Travis County Republican Party in 2017.

In May 2024 Mackowiak announced he was running for chair of the Republican Party of Texas, joining a crowded field seeking to replace outgoing Chair Matt Rinaldi. He sharply criticised Rinaldi and his endorsed successor, Abraham George, accusing them of incompetence, mismanagement, and laziness. After a floor fight at the Republican state convention, Abraham George won on a second ballot.

February 24, 2025 Mackowiak announced he was stepping down as Travis County Republican chair.

2024 election lawsuit Matt Mackowiak announced on October 29, 2024, that the local Travis County Republican Party had sued the Travis County elections administrator, alleging that the administrator had created a “severe deficiency” in the number of Republican poll workers at the county's voting locations. It urged the court to compel the county to "achieve bipartisan representation at all Election Day polling locations”. The Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals dismissed the suit the next day calling it "moot".

Mackowiak and the county GOP appealed to the Texas Supreme Court, who dismissed the case on the eve of the November 5th election. The court criticized them for taking action so late in the election and for providing what it called "spotty" evidence.

More than 100 such complaints and election-related lawsuits were filed across the country by local and state arms of the Republican Party, and some by the Republican National Committee.

Cornyn campaign senior adviser In May 2025, Mackowick was serving as Senator John Cornyn's senior campaign advisor.