Matt Rinaldi
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Matt Rinaldi (Republican Party) was a member of the Texas House of Representatives, representing District 115. Rinaldi assumed office in 2015. Rinaldi left office on January 8, 2019.
Rinaldi (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Texas House of Representatives to represent District 115. Rinaldi lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Previously, Rinaldi was the Republican candidate for judge of Texas District 191 Court in 2010.
As of June 2017, Rinaldi was a member of the Texas Freedom Caucus, a legislative caucus in the state House. According to the group's website, the caucus aims to support "liberty-minded, grassroots Texans who want bold action to protect life, strengthen families, defend the U.S. and Texas Bills of Rights, restrain government and revitalize personal and economic freedoms in the State of Texas."[1]
On July 11, 2021, Rinaldi was elected as the chair of the Texas Republican Party, replacing Allen West (R).[2]
Biography
Rinaldi earned his B.B.A. from James Madison University and his J.D. from the Boston School of Law in 2001.
Committee assignments
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Livestock |
| • Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Rinaldi served on the following committees:
| Texas committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Agriculture and Livestock |
| • Business & Industry |
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for Texas House of Representatives District 115
Julie Johnson defeated incumbent Matt Rinaldi in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 115 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Julie Johnson (D) | 56.8 | 32,214 |
 | Matt Rinaldi (R) | 43.2 | 24,512 | |
| Total votes: 56,726 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 115
Julie Johnson defeated Rock Bower in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 115 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Julie Johnson | 77.1 | 5,003 |
 | Rock Bower | 22.9 | 1,483 | |
| Total votes: 6,486 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 115
Incumbent Matt Rinaldi advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 115 on March 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matt Rinaldi | 100.0 | 5,802 |
| Total votes: 5,802 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election was held on March 1, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was December 14, 2015.[3]
Incumbent Matt Rinaldi defeated Dorotha M. Ocker in the Texas House of Representatives District 115 general election.[4]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 115 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Matt Rinaldi Incumbent |
50.89% | 29,987 | |
| Democratic | Dorotha M. Ocker | 49.11% | 28,939 | |
| Total Votes | 58,926 | |||
| Source: Texas Secretary of State | ||||
Dorotha M. Ocker ran unopposed in the Texas House of Representatives District 115 Democratic Primary.[5][6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 115 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Dorotha M. Ocker (unopposed) | |
Incumbent Matt Rinaldi defeated Bennett Ratliff in the Texas House of Representatives District 115 Republican Primary.[5][6]
| Texas House of Representatives, District 115 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Matt Rinaldi Incumbent |
53.45% | 8,804 | |
| Republican | Bennett Ratliff | 46.55% | 7,668 | |
| Total Votes | 16,472 | |||
Primary
- Main article: Notable Texas primaries, 2016
The 2016 Republican primary was the third match between the two candidates; Ratliff beat Rinaldi in the 2012 primary, but lost the seat to him in 2014 by 92 votes.[7]
Rinaldi received the following endorsements:[8]
- National Association for Gun Rights
- National Rifle Association, Political Victory Fund
- Texans for Fiscal Responsibility
- Texas Home School Coalition
- Texas Right to Life
- Texas State Rifle Association
- Texas Values
- Young Conservatives of Texas
Ratliff received the following endorsements:[9]
- Texas Alliance for Life
- Texans for Life
- Dallas Morning News
2014
Elections for all 150 seats in the Texas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on March 4, 2014. Those candidates who did not receive 50 percent or more of the vote in their party primary on March 4 faced an additional May 27 primary runoff. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in these elections was December 9, 2013. Matt Rinaldi defeated incumbent Bennett Ratliff in the Republican primary. Paul Stafford was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Rinaldi defeated Stafford and Kim Kelley (L) in the general election.[10][11][12]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Matt Rinaldi |
57.1% | 16,999 | |
| Democratic | Paul Stafford | 39.5% | 11,767 | |
| Libertarian | Kim Kelley | 3.4% | 999 | |
| Total Votes | 29,765 | |||
2012
Rinaldi ran in the 2012 election for Texas House of Representatives, District 115. Rinaldi was defeated by Steve Nguyen and Bennett Ratliff in the May 29 primary election.[13][14]
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Steve Nguyen (advanced to runoff) |
35% | 3,081 |
| Bennett Ratliff (advanced to runoff) |
30.1% | 2,644 |
| Matt Rinaldi | 26.6% | 2,338 |
| Andy Olivo | 5.1% | 452 |
| Lib Grimmett | 3.2% | 278 |
| Total Votes | 8,793 | |
Campaign themes
2016
Rinaldi's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Stop Austin spending: Fiscal sanity in the Texas House is imperative and will be my top priority as State Representative. Focus resources towards teachers & students: Robin Hood is the number one problem in Texas public education and must be abolished. In addition, school funding is systemically flawed and must be reformed, with an emphasis on driving dollars to the classroom and where they belong. I would eliminate costly mandates, thereby freeing up more resources for our teachers and students, and return local control to promote greater efficiency in our public schools. Secure our border: I believe it is the duty of our state to protect itself from the financial and human cost of unchecked illegal immigration where our federal government has failed. Benefits for illegal immigrants should be terminated and the Texas DREAM act repealed. Pro-life, pro-family: I believe that life begins at conception and pledge to support any legislation that has the effect of restricting abortion or extending full legal protection to the unborn. I also believe in the protection of marriage as between one man and one woman and oppose any attempt by the government to recognize domestic partnerships, civil unions, or any legal construct similar to marriage between same sex partners. Fight ObamaCare: Federal healthcare mandates are threatening to overwhelm the Texas state budget, and taxpayers will be on the hook for the unintended consequences of ObamaCare. We must stand up against every attempt to implement Obamacare or expand Medicaid under Obamacare.[15] |
” |
| —Matt Rinaldi[16] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Texas scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2018
In 2018, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session.
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the Texas State Legislature was in its 85th legislative session from January 10 through May 29. A special session was held from July 18 to August 15.
|
2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2016, the Texas State Legislature did not hold a regular session. |
2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2015, the Texas State Legislature was in its 84th legislative session from January 13 through June 1.
|
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Rinaldi has a wife, Corley.
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2018
- State legislative special elections, 2018
- Texas State Legislature
- Texas state legislative districts
- Texas House of Representatives
- Texas House of Representatives elections, 2014
- Texas House of Representatives Committees
- Texas Joint Committees
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Texas Legislature website
- Official campaign website
- Matt Rinaldi on Facebook
- Matt Rinaldi on Twitter
- Profile from Open States
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Texas Tribune
Footnotes
- ↑ Texas Freedom Caucus, "Home," accessed June 7, 2017
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi wins Texas GOP chair election," July 11, 2021
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2016 Election Dates," accessed December 14, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Texas Secretary of State, "2016 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current Election History results," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "A Rinaldi vs. Ratliff Rematch for Texas House Seat," June 8, 2015
- ↑ Matt Rinaldi, "Endorsements," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Bennett Ratliff, "Endorsements," accessed February 22, 2016
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "1992 - Current ELECTION HISTORY," accessed December 2, 2014
- ↑ The Libertarian Party of Texas, "2014 Texas Representative Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Green Party of Texas, "Greens Release Candidate List," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2012 Election and Candidate Information," accessed June 12, 2012
- ↑ Office of the (Texas) Secretary of State, "Race Summary Report," accessed July 12, 2012
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Matt Rinaldi Our State Representative, "Issues," accessed February 23, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bennett Ratliff (R) |
Texas House of Representatives District 115 2015-2019 |
Succeeded by Julie Johnson (D) |
