Matt Smith – better known – as “Fat Matt” said he heard the “still small voice of the Lord” calling him to run for Congress in Texas House District 19 in the 2026 March Republican Primary.
But there’s a second reason the Abilene businessman is running.
“I believe that it’s time that we treat government more like a business than daddy’s credit card,” Smith said.
Ongoing coverage: Learn what’s coming as Lubbock Lights kicks off Texas Primary ‘26 coverage
Congressional race (District 19) candidate profiles
- Roofer ‘Fat Matt’ Smith running for Congress with deep conviction – viewing everything through lens of Scripture
– - Sell hopes experience working with Combest in Congress (emphasizing work on Farm Bill) will sell him to voters
– - Barbee funding his own campaign – standing apart from other candidates on taxes, healthcare too
– - Enriquez says run for Congress proof American dream he wants to fight to protect is ‘alive in West Texas’
– - Doctor, farmer, veteran Donald May hopes voters send him, a self-described ‘common citizen,’ to serve in Congress
– - Corley says no one should be able to ‘buy a congressman’ as he pushes for lobbying reform, also inflation, in bid for office
– - Zink running on January 6 record – not away from it – ‘not willing to back down’ from what he called unfair process
Smith grew up north of Abilene.
“I homeschooled – 6th grade, 7th and 8th grade – went to private school and then did a few different schools in Abilene,” Smith said.
He studied at some junior colleges and ended up with an associate degree from Howard College in Big Spring.
“Through Kingdom Advanced School of Ministry, I have an associate’s of ‘practical ministry,’” Smith said.
“It’s a deep-felt conviction. The way that I need to look at everything in life is through the lens of Scripture,” Smith said.
“I’m an entrepreneur, husband of 22 years, five kids. We are going through the adoption process for our sixth,” Smith said.
The business he owns is Abilene-based Fat Matt Roofing – which expanded into Lubbock in 2018.
Years ago, at a previous job, Smith had trouble getting people to call him back.
“So, I started saying, ‘Call Fat Matt,’” Smith said.
“It’s like, wow, it broke the proverbial ice, and things were a lot smoother,” Smith said.
Folks were expecting a big guy. Instead, they got “a skinny white guy.”
The priorities
If elected, Smith said the priority is getting federal spending under control.
“We have to stop the fraud. It’s running rampant. We don’t want another ‘learing’ center,” Smith said – making reference to claims of widespread abuse of government programs in Minnesota funding daycare programs – one of which was misspelled from learning center to “learing center.”
“We have to stop that fraud, waste, and abuse before we can get our country back. … Frankly, sometimes it’s on both sides of the aisle,” Smith said.
“We have a responsibility … to quit spending our kids’ future,” Smith said.
His hope is if he wins, he can have conversations with members of Congress including Democrats.
“To have those conversations one-on-one, being able to bridge some of that partisan divide is what it’s going to take,” Smith said.
And it’s time for terms limits, he said, to stop “all of these career politicians that are part of the cesspool.”
“We need to have representatives that stand for the people, not special interests,” Smith said.
But terms limits can’t be too strict, he said, citing current Congressman Jodey Arrington as needing enough time to get established and build a track record of accomplishments.
“Like Arrington, he’ll be 10 years. If he would have limited himself to six years, then he wouldn’t have been able to be there for this last season and getting a lot of stuff done – like the Big Beautiful Bill,” Smith said.
His campaign already signed a term limits pledge, he said, but says it’s up to the voters to choose better leaders.
“We should not promote people into leadership that don’t know how to run a business,” he said.
He’d also like Congress to convert some of President Trump’s executive orders into legislation.
“We have a lot of executive orders President Trump has passed that the stroke of a pen with the next administration can undo,” Smith said.
Other priorities, especially for West Texas, include agriculture.
“We have to cut red tape that is causing our [agricultural] producers to be at a disadvantage from other people in the world. Our farmers are paying double what other countries may pay for seeds. The input cost of things is just through the roof,” Smith said.
It’s important to choose from among all the candidates in the race – not just the ones from Lubbock, he said.
“The people I’m running against are running and using that against me because they see that, ‘Oh, because I’m from Lubbock that I’m better than you.’”
He’s been involved in the Lubbock business community since 2018 – including a Lubbock branch of Fat Matt Roofing and participation in the Lubbock Area Roofing Contractor Association, Smith said.
