Matthew John Dolan (born January 12, 1965) is an American attorney and politician who has served as a member of the

Ohio Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such that half of the se ...

from the 24th district since 2017. He previously served as a member of the

Ohio House of Representatives The Ohio House of Representatives is the lower house of the Ohio General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Ohio; the other house of the bicameral legislature being the Ohio Senate. The House of Representatives first met in C ...

from 2005 to 2010. Dolan's father

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment * Larry D. Alexander, American artist/writer *Larry Boon ...

bought the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

(then Cleveland Indians) in 2000 and gave Matt a partial stake in the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

team. Prior to his election victory in 2016, Dolan was part of the team's front office, overseeing the budget and also running the team's charity program. On September 20, 2021, he announced his candidacy in the

2022 United States Senate election in Ohio The 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio was held on November 8, 2022, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the Ohio, State of Ohio. Republican Party (United States), Republican writer and venture capitalist J. D. ...

. He lost the Republican primary, coming in third. On January 17, 2023, he announced his candidacy in the

2024 United States Senate election in Ohio The 2024 United States Senate election in Ohio will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Ohio. Incumbent three-term Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown is running for reelection to a ...

Early life and career

Dolan was born and raised in

Chardon, Ohio Chardon is a city in and the county seat of Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 5,242 at the 2020 census.Gilmour Academy Gilmour Academy is an independent, Catholic, coeducational, college-preparatory day and boarding school in the Cleveland suburb of Gates Mills, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1946 by the Brothers of Holy Cross, Gilmour Academy has three divi ...

. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifi ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from the

Case Western Reserve University School of Law Case Western Reserve University School of Law is one of eight schools at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the first schools accredited by the American Bar Association. It is a member of the Association of Americ ...

. Forbes ranked the extended Dolan family as the 54th richest in the United States in 2015, with most of its wealth attributed to his uncle Charles' investments in cable television. An attorney, Dolan is a former chief assistant prosecutor for

Geauga County Geauga County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 95,397. The county seat is Chardon. The county is named for an Onondaga or Seneca language word meaning 'raccoon', originally the name of the ...

and assistant attorney general for the State of Ohio. He is a partner at the law firm of Thrasher, Dinsmore & Dolan.

Politics

Ohio House of Representatives

In 2004, Dolan was elected to represent the 98th District in the

, and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008. He resigned in January 2010 to focus on a run for Cuyahoga County

Executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dire ...

. On November 2, 2010, he lost to Lakewood Mayor

Ed FitzGerald Edward FitzGerald (born July 10, 1968) is an American businessman, attorney, and entrepreneur who previously served as a law enforcement officer and public official in the Greater Cleveland Metropolitan Area. Early life FitzGerald was born ...

Ohio Senate

After taking a break from politics to work in the Indians' front office, in 2016, Dolan opted to make a comeback by running to succeed state Senator

Tom Patton Thomas F. Patton (born November 3, 1953) is the state representative for the 7th District of the Ohio House of Representatives. He is a Republican. The district consists of Berea, North Olmsted, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, Strongsville ...

, who was term-limited that year after serving in the Senate for over eight years. A competitive seat on paper, the 24th District had been held by Republicans for over thirty years, which created a competitive primary. For the Republican nomination, Dolan faced sitting state Representatives Nan Baker and

Mike Dovilla Michael D. Dovilla (born March 13, 1975) is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives who represented the Seventh District from 2013 to 2016. Prior to redistricting, he was first elected to represent the Eighteenth District in 2010. ...

. However, his name recognition and large personal wealth put him over the edge, and he won the nomination with 44% of the vote, to Baker's 29% and Dovilla's 27%. While the general election was at first deemed competitive, it did not prove to be in the end. Facing Emily Hagan, an assistant county prosecutor and the niece of former Cuyahoga County commissioner and gubernatorial candidate

Tim Hagan Timothy Hagan (born March 18, 1946) is an American politician who served as Cuyahoga County Commissioner and other local offices from the 1980s through 2000s, and was his party's nominee for the governorship of Ohio in 2002. Early life Hagan was ...

, Dolan won with over 58% of the vote. He was sworn into office on January 3, 2017. In 2020, Dolan was reelected with 54% of the vote, beating Democrat Tom Jackson.

2022 U.S. Senate bid

On September 20, 2021, Dolan declared his bid in the

. He ran as a traditional Republican that Ohio Republicans have tended to elect in statewide elections including

Rob Portman Robert Jones Portman (born December 19, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Ohio since 2011. A member of the Republican Party ...

George Voinovich George Victor Voinovich (July 15, 1936June 12, 2016) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio, United States senator from Ohio from 1999 to 2011, the 65th governor of Ohio from 1991 to 1998 and the 54th mayor of ...

, and

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 Oh ...

. Dolan was the only candidate that did not put his full support behind

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 ...

during the campaign, but he was sure to explain that he voted for Trump in 2016 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in ...

. On March 21, 2022, during a debate between the Republican candidates running for Senate in 2022, Dolan was the only candidate to raise his hand when they were asked if Trump should "stop talking about the 2020 election". Despite Dolan's poll numbers surging during the last days of the primary campaign, Dolan ultimately lost the primary. He came in third (behind J.D. Vance and

Josh Mandel Joshua Aaron Mandel (born September 27, 1977) is an American far-right politician who served as the 48th treasurer of Ohio from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the Ohio State Representative for the 17th distric ...

) with 23.3% of the vote, carrying only three counties: Cuyahoga (his home county), Geauga, and

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral di ...

2024 U.S Senate bid

On January 17, 2023, Dolan announced his bid for the

, challenging incumbent

Sherrod Brown Sherrod Campbell Brown (; born November 9, 1952) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Ohio, a seat which he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the U.S. representative for Ohio's ...

. Dolan has said that his reasoning for announcing his campaign early is to get more name recognition.

References

External links

Official campaign site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dolan, Matt 1965 births 21st-century American politicians Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences alumni Businesspeople from Cleveland Candidates in the 2022 United States Senate elections Case Western Reserve University alumni Dolan family Lawyers from Cleveland Living people Ohio lawyers People from Chagrin Falls, Ohio People from Geauga County, Ohio Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Republican Party Ohio state senators Politicians from Cleveland