Matthew McConaughey Explains Why He Isn’t Running For Texas Governor

Matthew McConaughey recently said that he no longer plans to run for governor of Texas as he had hinted he might.

The actor said in September of his pursuing politics, “It’s going to be in some capacity. I’m more of a folk-singing, philosopher, poet-statesman than I am per-se definitive politician, so I go, ‘Well that’s a reason not to,’ and then I go, ‘No, that’s exactly why you should, because politics needs redefinition.'”

In March, McConaughey said that it was “a true consideration” that he might even run for governor of Texas.

However, he decided that politics is not a path he wishes to pursue at the moment.

“It was a two-year consideration that I came to the decision really over the last couple of months,” the Oscar winner told host Jimmy Fallon. “And I was asking myself the original question and trying to answer, ‘How and where and what can I do to be most useful?’ To myself, to my family and to the most amount of people.”

He expressed his appreciation for the gravity of politics, adding that in his contemplation, “The … category of politics came up and it’s a privileged one that I gave great consideration to.”

The 52-year-old actor periodically considers what he can do in his life to best serve others. He said, “Because I do think I have some things to teach and share. What is my role, what is my category in my next chapter of life that I’m going into now?”

Ultimately, one of the key factors in McConaughey’s decision to postpone political endeavors was his duty to his family.

McConaughey explained on Fallon, “At this point in my life with the things—I’ve got a 13-year-old, an 11-year-old, an 8-year-old—the life I’m living right now, the storytelling I want to keep doing, [politics is] not the category for me at this point in my life.”

On The Carlos Watson Show in May, McConaughey said, “I’m interested in building something that can last and I’m measuring what category that is.” He added, “I don’t know if that’s politics.”