Our Republican Legacy Announces Dr. Merrill Matthews as Texas State Chair
- Our Republican Legacy
- 20 hours ago
- 2 min read
DALLAS, TX — Our Republican Legacy (ORL) is proud to announce that Dr. Merrill Matthews has been appointed Texas State Chair for the organization, bringing decades of national policy leadership and Texas-based public-service experience to the growing movement.
Dr. Matthews is one of the country’s most respected public policy analysts, specializing in health care, entitlements, and energy policy. For 25 years he served as a resident scholar with the Institute for Policy Innovation and previously was Vice President of Domestic Policy at the National Center for Policy Analysis. His work in Washington included nine years as Executive Director of the Council for Affordable Health Insurance, where National Journal recognized the Council as one of the most effective health policy organizations in the nation.
A prolific writer, Dr. Matthews is a weekly columnist for The Hill and has been published in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Forbes, USA Today, and the Washington Times. He is the co-author of On the Edge: America Faces the Entitlements Cliff (2019) and has contributed chapters to several books on ethics, health care leadership, and public policy. He is the outgoing chairman of the Texas Advisory Committee of the U.S.
Commission on Civil Rights. Dr. Matthews holds a BBA in Economics from the University of Texas at Arlington, an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Texas at Dallas.
“In 2025, Our Republican Legacy grew from zero to 25 state chairs because Americans across the country are hungry for a principled conservative movement rooted in character, integrity, and constitutional governance, said ORL Founder Senator John Danforth. "No one embodies those values more consistently than Dr. Merrill Matthews. His record in public policy, ethics, and civic leadership is unmatched, and his reputation for thoughtful, rigorous conservatism represents the very best of the Republican tradition. Texas could not be in better hands.”
In his new role, Matthews will help advance ORL’s mission, built around five core principles:
Unity
The Constitution
Fiscal Responsibility
Free Enterprise
Peace through Strength.