Matthew "Matt" Nathan Strawn (born 1974) is an American businessman from
Ankeny, Iowa.
Early life
Matt Strawn is from
Van Horne in
Benton County,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, where his family were farmers.
From 1992 to 1996, he attended the
University of Iowa
The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...
and graduated in 1996 with a
BA majoring in political science, journalism and mass communication.
[
From 1999 to 2003, he attended the ]Columbus School of Law
The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States.
More than 370 Juris Doctor students attend the ...
at the Catholic University of America
The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is one of two pontifical universities of the Catholic Church in the United States – the only one that is not primarily a ...
, received his JD in 2003, and became a member of the Maryland Bar Association in 2004.[
]
Career
He served on the staffs of Saxby Chambliss
Clarence Saxby Chambliss (; born November 10, 1943) is an American lawyer and retired politician who was a United States Senate, United States Senator from Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia from 2003 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party (Unite ...
from 1997 to January 2001 and Mike Rogers from January 2001 to June 2007.[
During the 2008 presidential election, he supported ]John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
's campaign.[
]
Iowa Barnstormers
In early 2008, Strawn through The Strawn Company, Jeff Lamberti
Jeffrey M. Lamberti (born October 21, 1962, in Ankeny, Iowa) is a former Republican Senate leader and two term state senator representing the 35th District of the Iowa Senate, and served two terms as State Representative. In the 2006 mid-term el ...
, and others became co-owners of the Iowa Barnstormers
The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well".
Sever ...
in the af2
The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football r ...
.[ From the 2010 to the 2014 seasons, the Barnstormers played in the ]Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...
and has been in the Indoor Football League
The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...
for the 2015 season to present.
Iowa Republican Party chairman
In January 2009, Strawn was elected state chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa
The Republican Party of Iowa (RPI) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Iowa. The State Central Committee is chaired by Jeff Kaufmann. The RPI operates the Republican side of the Iowa caucu ...
.Terry Branstad
Terry Edward Branstad (born November 17, 1946) is a retired American politician who served as the 39th and 42nd governor of Iowa (1983–1999; 2011–2017) and the United States ambassador to China (2017–2020). A member of the Repu ...
, Strawn ran for reelection unopposed in 2011, for another two-year term.
Next Generation Public Affairs
In June 2013, he co-founded the Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
based Next Generation Public Affairs with Pat Brady and businessman Bob Fitzsimmons and remained with the firm until December 2018.
CEO Iowa Lottery
In January 2019, Strawn became a member of the Iowa Lottery board as the third Iowa Lottery
The Iowa Lottery Authority is run by the state of Iowa. It is a member of the Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL), which administers games on behalf of the member lotteries. The Iowa Lottery portfolio includes Powerball, Mega Millions, Lotto Ame ...
CEO in the 34 years of the Iowa Lottery.[
]
Personal
As of 20 May 2019, he is married to the lobbyist Erin Coyle Strawn who is with the Stanton Park Group LLC and the Coyle Real Estate Company, and they have three children ages 8, 12, and 14.Ankeny, Iowa
Ankeny (, ) is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States and a suburb of the state capital of Des Moines, Iowa, Des Moines, as part of the Des Moines metropolitan area.
As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of Ankeny ...
, and as of February 2019, Strawn and his family live in downtown Des Moines
Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...
's East Village.[ In February 2023 he was diagnosed with colon cancer, but is expected to make a full recovery.][https://www.kcci.com/article/iowa-lottery-ceo-matt-strawn-cancer/42916509]
Notes
References
1973 births
21st-century American businesspeople
Iowa Republicans
Living people
People from Ankeny, Iowa
Place of birth missing (living people)
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