Matthew Daniel Rinaldi (born April 11, 1975) is an American attorney and politician who served as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas from 2021 to 2024.

He graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, at which he drew national attention for his successful effort to have the Pledge of Allegiance recited prior to meetings of the student government association.

[4] In 2012, Rinaldi placed third of five candidates in the Republican primary election for the 115th district of the Texas House of Representatives; the seat was open following the retirement of veteran legislator Jim Jackson.

He joint- and co-authored successful pieces of legislation that were signed into law, including HB 11[7] (authorizing additional troopers for border security and strengthening smuggling laws) and HB 283[8] (increasing government transparency by requiring certain governmental bodies to make audio and video recordings of open meetings available online).

[12][13] Rinaldi was rated the most conservative member of the Texas House by a Rice University study that "[drew] on the 1,138 non-lopsided roll call votes taken during the 2015 regular session.

Rinaldi was, according to The Dallas Morning News, "instrumental in strengthening the punishments in the sanctuary cities ban,"[18] and authored and passed into law measures that: remove from office public officials who adopt sanctuary city policies,[19] require government contractors and subcontractors to use e-verify,[20] revoke pensions of teachers convicted of committing sex crimes against students,[21][22][23] allow churches to utilize volunteers to provide security services without risking heavy fines,[24] and prohibit any taxpayer money from going to Planned Parenthood.

[35] Rinaldi was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas on July 11, 2021, to replace outgoing chair, former Congressman Allen West.

[36][37] In his first weeks as chairman, Rinaldi had established a reputation of being more collegial than West had been,[38] but also signaled an intent to challenge statewide Republican officials including Governor Greg Abbott.