Matt Kenney | From Combat to Campaigns

Wesley Donehue Podcast

🎙️On today’s 80th anniversary of D-Day, hear from Matt Kenney, an Army combat veteran and seasoned political operative in the great state of Arizona.🇺🇸
🪖The Catalyst for Leadership: Matt explains how experiencing 9/11 as a highschooler and watching the military and NFL career of Pat Tillman prompted motivations to serve his country.

⚔️A Profession of Arms: Matt reviews the many important lessons learned from Ranger School, ranging from specialized infantry techniques to unparalleled interpersonal skills.

🎛️The Need to Pivot: Matt recounts the silver linings that he found as a result of the physical hardships and injuries from his time in combat.

🫡Platforms of Service: Upon exiting his days of service, Matt found a platform in working towards VA Reform, rebuilding the foundation of the Republican party in Arizona, and bolstering the newly censured and fellow veteran Senator John McCain.

💥Crash Course in Politics: Matt explains that his first job after leaving combat was, notably, leading the successful Super PAC to reelect Senator McCain in 2015.

📋The Monumental Marriott: Matt shares his favorite Campaign War Story, featuring multiple hotel ballrooms and hundreds of dedicated canvassers who still remember their many hours of hard work years later.

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Matt Kenney specializes in organizational development, public affairs, and political consulting. For nearly a decade, Matt has worked on political and initiative campaigns as well as public relations projects.

He previously served as the executive director of the independent expenditure efforts to re-elect Senator John McCain and as executive director of the Arizona Republican Party. He has been a lead consultant on advocacy campaigns for Veteran Affairs reforms and accountability, energy initiatives, free market policies and the Arizona House and Senate’s Republican Legislative Victory Fund.

Before working in public affairs, Matt served in the US Army as an infantry officer and is a combat veteran. Matt holds certificates in American Public Policy and International Studies as well as Bachelor’s and Juris Doctor degrees from Arizona State University.

Matt currently serves on the board of the Arizona Department of Veterans Services, the Arizona Attorney General’s Veteran and Military Family Advisory Council, the Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Western Maricopa Coalition. He lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife Brittany and their three children Braiden, Eden and Rowan.