Matthew "Matt" Borges is an American politician, and the former Chairman of the

Ohio Republican Party The Ohio Republican Party is the Ohio affiliate of the Republican Party. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1854. History After the Civil War, Ohio politics was dominated by the Republican Party, and Ohio Republicans also played key roles i ...

. He was honored with the "Distinguished Alumni Award" by The Ohio State University Department of Political Science in 2019. He also serves on OSU's Advisory Board for the Political Science Department.

Early life and education

Of Portuguese descent, Borges grew up in

Barrington, Rhode Island Barrington is a suburban, residential town in Bristol County, Rhode Island located approximately southeast of Providence. It was founded by Congregationalist separatists from Swansea, Massachusetts and incorporated in 1717. Barrington was ceded ...

, and earned a B.A. in political science from The

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1994. He is a partner i
17 Consulting
a

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

-based public affairs firm. He and his wife, Kate, live in

Bexley, Ohio Bexley is a suburban city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States. The population was 13,928 at the 2020 census. Founded as a village, the city of Bexley is a suburb of Columbus, the Ohio state capital, situated on the banks of Alum Creek next ...

Politics

Borges spent most of his early career working on state and local political campaigns in Ohio. He ran local campaigns before running Joe Deters successful campaigns for Ohio Treasurer of State in 1998 and 2002. Borges has worked on several presidential campaigns, and traveled the world as an Advance Representative for the White House from 2001 to 2008. He worked on John McCain's presidential campaign in 2008. In 2010, Borges ran the successful statewide campaign of

Dave Yost David Anthony Yost (born December 22, 1956) is an American politician, Republican, and lawyer who currently serves as the 51st Attorney General of Ohio. Education and career Yost graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts de ...

, who now serves as Ohio Attorney General. Borges served as Executive Director for the Kasich-Taylor Inaugural Committee in 2011. He is still active in several other campaigns in Ohio. He is a lifetime member of the McCain Alumni Association, and in 2019 was appointed by Ohio Governor

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the O ...

to the Board of Trustees at Columbus State University. In February 2020, he was reportedly backing Joe Biden's presidential campaign to undermine the campaign of

Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Vermont since 2007. He was the U.S. representative for the state's at-large congressional district from 1991 to 2007 ...

. In June 2020, Borges joined with

Anthony Scaramucci Anthony Scaramucci ( ; born January 6, 1964) is an American financier who briefly served as the White House Communications Director, White House Director of Communications from July 21 to July 31, 2017. Scaramucci worked at Goldman Sachs's inv ...

and other former Trump and

Bush Bush commonly refers to: * Shrub, a small or medium woody plant Bush, Bushes, or the bush may also refer to: People * Bush (surname), including any of several people with that name **Bush family, a prominent American family that includes: *** ...

administration officials to launch Right Side PAC, a super PAC encouraging Republicans to vote for Joe Biden over

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

Controversies and arrest

Between 2005 and 2019, Borges was – according to the ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'' – "embroiled in a dispute over unpaid taxes and liens". According to Borges, he had started to repay approximately $150,000 in state and federal tax arrears by 2013, with the matter being ultimately settled in 2019. A case against Borges was dismissed by a Cuyahoga County judge in 2009. Five years earlier, Borges pleaded to one count of a "revolving door" violation, after he refused to testify against former Republican state Treasurer

Joe Deters Joseph Theodore Deters (born April 4, 1957) is an American politician and lawyer who currently serves as Prosecuting Attorney for Hamilton County, Ohio. Early life, family, and education Deters is a lifelong Cincinnatian. He is one of eight c ...

, who he believed had done nothing wrong. He paid a $1,000 fine. Later, the prosecutor who initially tried to bring the case against Deters resigned after failing to act on one of the largest corruption investigations in American history. On July 21, 2020, Borges, along with Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives,

Larry Householder Larry Lee Householder (born June 6, 1959) is an American politician who was the state representative for Ohio's 72nd district and was a two-time Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives. He is a member of the Republican Party. Householder ...

, and three others were arrested by Federal authorities. They were accused of accepting $60 million in bribes from

FirstEnergy FirstEnergy Corp is an electric utility headquartered in Akron, Ohio. It was established when Ohio Edison acquired Centerior Energy in 1997. Its subsidiaries and affiliates are involved in the distribution, transmission, and generation of electri ...

in exchange for $1.3 billion worth of benefits in the form of Ohio House Bill 6, which increased electricity rates and provided that money as a $150 million per year bailout for two nuclear plants ( Davis–Besse and

Perry Perry, also known as pear cider, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally the perry pear. It has been common for centuries in England, particularly in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire. It is also made ...

) owned by

References

External links

Ohio GOP
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borges, Matt American people of Portuguese descent Living people Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences alumni Ohio Republicans State political party chairs of Ohio Year of birth missing (living people) People from Barrington, Rhode Island People from Bexley, Ohio