Yakima GOP Chair Matt Brown Joins State Party to Expand GOTV and Ballot-Harvesting Sucesss

Bellevue - Washington State Republican Party Chairman (WAGOP) Jim Walsh announces that Yakima County GOP Chairman Matt Brown is joining the State Party staff as Political Director-in a newly-configured version of that position.

At the State Party, Brown will focus on two areas of campaign support: Get out the Vote (GOTV) and ballot-harvesting efforts. WAGOP’s newly-configured political director role will concentrate more specifically on campaign mechanics than in the past.

Brown has delivered consistent success in Yakima County and surrounding areas with localized GOTV and ballot-harvesting programs. His county party won control of the Yakima City Council, won several county-level campaigns, and-most recently-helped win all three legislative positions in the 14th District during the 2024 election cycle. Those legislative seats were expected to go to Democrats, after a Seattle court ordered controversial redistricting scheme. But the GOP candidates supported by Brown’s Yakima team won with clear margins.

“I’m very glad that Matt Brown is going to help the WAGOP scale up its GOTV and ballot-harvesting work,” says Chairman Walsh. “His track record of winning in central Washington is undeniable. He’s going to help the State Party expand that winning to all corners of Washington.

“We achieved major Republican victories through relentless ballot harvesting, proving that a strategic ground game wins elections,” says Brown. “Now, we will take this strategy statewide. I’m committed to scaling this operation, by mobilizing Republicans and working with all our partners to break the one-party stranglehold in Washington politics. Our mission is at the WAGOP is clear: Win key legislative seats, build toward a majority, and prove that Republicans are ready to lead and govern. We are united, strategic, and unwavering in our commitment to return common sense to Olympia.”

In 2023, WAGOP had enormous success in tightly targeted GOTV and ballot-harvesting efforts supporting several dozen school board campaigns around Washington. In 2024, the Party’s expansion of those efforts worked well in some parts of the state, less well in others. Chairman Walsh says the WAGOP will show more consistent results in 2025 and 2026.

“Brown has won in his region by executing an aggressive and disciplined system of contacting voters and harvesting their ballots,” adds Chairman Walsh. “Now that he’s joined the WAGOP team, Brown will execute that system all around Washington. And we will be better positioned to help candidates win races.”