| Matt Borges | |
| Office: | Chair of the Ohio Republican Party |
| Term Start: | May 31, 2012 |
| Term End: | January 6, 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Kevin DeWine |
| Successor: | Jane Timken |
| Party: | Republican |
Mathew "Matt" Borges is an American politician who was the chairman of the Ohio Republican Party from 2012 to 2017. He was replaced when President-elect Donald Trump supported his opposition.[1] In 2020, he joined other former Trump and Bush administration officials in launching the Right Side PAC, a super PAC encouraging Republicans to vote for Joe Biden over Trump in 2020.
In June 2023, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison for his role in the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal, where he accepted part of $60 million in bribes to pass a $1.3 billion bailout bill benefiting FirstEnergy, the corporate owner of Ohio's Perry and Davis–Besse nuclear plants. It was called the largest corruption scandal in Ohio's history.
Of Portuguese descent,[2] Borges grew up in Barrington, Rhode Island,[3] and earned a B.A. in political science from The Ohio State University in 1994. He and his wife, Kate, live in Bexley, Ohio.
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 George W. Bush 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, who now serves as Ohio Attorney General. Borges served as Executive Director for the Kasich-Taylor Inaugural Committee in 2011.
Borges was elected chairman of the Ohio Republican Party in 2012 and served two two-year terms.[4] He was replaced by Jane Timken in 2017, after Timken received support from President-elect Trump.[5]
In 2019 was appointed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to the Board of Trustees at Columbus State University.[6]
In February 2020, he backed Joe Biden's presidential campaign to undermine the campaign of Bernie Sanders.[7] In June 2020, Borges joined with Anthony Scaramucci and other former Trump and Bush administration officials to launch Right Side PAC, a super PAC encouraging Republicans to vote for Joe Biden over Donald Trump.[8]
In 2004, Borges pleaded to one count of unauthorized use of a public office, paid a $1,000 fine, and was later granted an expungement.[9]
Between 2005 and 2019, Borges was – according to the Dayton Daily News – "embroiled in a dispute over unpaid taxes and liens".[10] 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.[11] [10]
In July 2020, Borges, along with Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives Larry Householder, and three others were arrested by Federal authorities in the largest corruption scandal in Ohio's history.[12] They were accused of accepting $60 million in bribes from FirstEnergy in exchange for $1.3 billion of benefits to FirstEnergy. The benefits came through Ohio House Bill 6, which increased electricity rates and provided the $1.3 billion as a bailout of $150 million per year for two nuclear plants owned by FirstEnergy—Davis–Besse and Perry.[13] [14]
In March 2023, Borges was found guilty of racketeering, and in June 2023, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison (Householder was sentenced to 20 years).