Matt Towery
Matthew Allen "Matt" Towery is a national political analyst and pollster, television commentator, syndicated columnist, author, publisher, and attorney. He is a frequent guest on the Sean Hannity radio show.
As early as January 27, 2020, Towery predicted the likelihood of a coronavirus pandemic, and on February 13, 2020, he advised readers he had liquidated his entire stock portfolio for that reason. The market began to crash just over a week later, on February 21, 2020.
Towery was the first nationally recognized pundit to predict Donald Trump could become a serious contender for the U.S. presidency -- a position he reiterated with confidence throughout the Republican primary contest and beyond. During the campaign, he appeared on numerous television stations owned-and-operated by Fox Broadcasting Company as a commentator and analyst.
His polling company was virtually alone in accurately calling the 2016 presidential race for Trump over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. On Election Day, conservative talk show host Sean Hannity read a memo on the air in which Towery predicted Trump would beat the odds and win.
Similarly, in the 2008 presidential general election, as pollster for , Towery's polling correctly showed Democratic nominee Barack Obama winning critical swing states over his Republican opponent, John McCain.
A former Republican state legislator in Georgia, he is founder and chairman of news service and James Magazine, and has been a frequent contributor to a variety of primarily conservative news outlets, including Fox News and NewsMax Media. Over the years, he has been closely associated with former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich.
Early life
Matt Towery was born on June 15, 1959, in Atlanta, Georgia, to businessman Maurice J. "Buddy" Towery and the former Joan Gillaland.His keen interest in politics was sparked at an early age. Towery's fourth grade class was assigned to write a letter to someone in the public eye. Towery sent his to the governor of Georgia, unaware he was corresponding with one of the most controversial political figures in the South during the turbulent Civil Rights era. "I didn't understand all the segregation stuff then. I didn't even know what the word meant. I just wrote to the governor."
Several days later, he received a telephone call at home. "In the fourth grade, you don't usually get phone calls from an adult -- and it was Lester Maddox!" Towery said in a 1990 interview.
"I liked your letter," Maddox told the boy. "Come down and visit me at the capitol." Towery did just that -- and the governor named him an honorary lieutenant colonel.
From that moment on, while other young people his age were enjoying newfound freedoms in the post-revolutionary 1960s, Towery busily schooled himself in the art of politics.
Education
Towery initially aspired to a career in journalism, but his father urged him to become a lawyer. Ultimately, he found a way to do both.He was an honors student at the University of Georgia before earning a master's degree in international relations at England's University of Cambridge. He went on to graduate Cum Laude at Stetson University College of Law in Florida, which inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 2016.
Growing up, he attended , one of Atlanta's foremost college preparatory schools.
In 1978, at age 19, he distinguished himself with a championship at the National Bicentennial Youth Debates, held in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Career
Towery served in the Georgia House of Representatives and was the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor of Georgia in 1990 at age 30. He served as a strategist in numerous national and statewide political campaigns including as Chairman of then-Speaker Newt Gingrich's political organization in the 1990s.In 1998 the Georgia General Assembly named the heavily traveled Paces Ferry Road bridge over I-285 in Cobb County, Georgia as the Matthew A. Towery Bridge. The measure was unusual because it honored a Republican but was co-sponsored in bi-partisan fashion by both Democrats and Republicans. Democrat Governor Zell Miller signed the measure into law on April 6, 1998.
Towery has served as the CEO of numerous companies, including, when sold, the largest sheet fed commercial printing company in the Southeast.
Towery has authored numerous books including Powerchicks: How Women Will Dominate America.
He has appeared on many major news networks and on programs to include The O'Reilly Factor and Hardball with Chris Matthews and with hosts including Sean Hannity to Bill Maher. In 2011 he served as a weekly guest commentator for CNN. Since 1998, he has been a political analyst for the NBC, ABC, and currently the Fox affiliate in Atlanta.
As CEO of InsiderAdvantage, he has served as a pollster to many national news organizations including Politico and Newsmax Media.
InsiderAdvantage also publishes numerous politically oriented magazines including, in Georgia, James magazine and the Washington D.C.-based Southern Political Report, one of the nation's oldest continuously published political publications. His nationally syndicated column is based out of the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, Florida and is syndicated by Creators Syndicate out of Los Angeles.
In a dated Dec. 19, 2014, Towery was the first nationally recognized pundit to predict Donald Trump could become a serious contender for the U.S. presidency -- a position he reiterated in a follow-up column over a year later on Feb. 11, 2016.
Towery is an A/V Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale Hubbell and his varied legal career in his early years included the successful defense of 17-year-old facing the death penalty in Georgia. In later years he has served as counsel on mergers and acquisitions, crisis management for major corporations, and governmental relations. He currently is Of Counsel with Hall, Booth, Smith in their Atlanta office.
Towery's next book will focus on the role that polling, news events, and punditry play in the financial markets. Towery currently heads up his family owned LLLP which keeps him actively involved in both the financial and real estate markets. He participated in the 2012 Legislative Leadership Conference on October 2012.
Towery serves with emeritus status on numerous boards including private and public universities.