5 Things You Might Not Know About ACU's New Chairman

Matt Schlapp was elected Chairman of the American Conservative Union on Thursday, June 19. He's the 9th chairman of the nation's oldest and largest grassroots organization

1. He once worked for Billie Jean King

Via cjonline.com

In 1993, he managed the Wichita Advantage, a World TeamTennis franchise. One of its owners was tennis legend Billie Jean King. Schlapp was also a top junior tennis player, ranking #1 in his home state of Kansas

2. As a Notre Dame student, he started a political magazine that was confiscated by school officials.

Via webs.wichita.edu

While a student at Notre Dame, Schlapp decided to start a conservative magazine to take on the leftists around campus while honoring the Catholic tradition. Thanks to some fundraising, penny-pinching and kind Monks with a printing press, Dialogue was a full color, glossy, quarterly magazine. The magazine’s first edition had a beautiful front cover and was set to be distributed on a popular Saturday game day in South Bend. While Schlapp slept, issues were confiscated and trashed. After finding the magazines in a dumpster, Schlapp took them out, cleaned the trash of them and redistributed them as best he could.

3. Matt met his wife while working in the White House

As political staffer in the White House, Schlapp met his wife Mercedes in a joint political/communications meeting. She loved his cowboy boots, he loved how she switched from English to Spanish. Having led street protests for Elian Gonzales, her dealbreaker question for him was if Elian should be allowed to stay here or sent home. His simple answer, “never return people to the commies!” Matt says, “We started dating before September 11. After we ran out of the White House to safety, thinking we were breathing our last breaths, I realized I didn’t want to live another day without her. Once I talked to my sister to tell her I was OK, she told me it was my job to get Mercy to safety and to never let her out of my sight. It was great advice.”

4. He is one of the preppy staffers in the "Brooks Brothers Riot" of the 2000 election

Working in Florida on the 2000 campaign, Schlapp is amongst the staffers in oxford and khaki pictured protesting at the Miami-Dade Board of Elections. The protest made its way into 2007’s Recount.

5. Matt and his wife are parents to FIVE daughters

Ranging in age from 2 to 11, the Schlapp girls keep Matt on his toes. Even though their parents appear frequently on TV, their 4 year old recently asked if the TV could be switched to Dora while Matt was on Fox News.