Matthew McConaughey explains why he decided not to enter Texas gubernatorial race

Actor Matthew McConaughey has finally revealed why he chose not to enter the Texas gubernatorial race in 2022.

McConaughey tweeted a video on November 28 announcing that he has chosen not to seek the governor's office in his home state of Texas at this time.

"Over the past two years, I've been working on the answer to the question of how I can be most useful in this life going forward. Useful to myself, useful to my family, and to the most amount of people. One category of service I've been exploring is politics," McConaughey said.

"As a simple kid born in the little town of Uvalde, Texas, it never occurred to me that I would one day be considered for political leadership. It's a humbling and inspiring path to ponder. It is also a path that I'm choosing not to take at this moment," he continued.

McConaughey explained in the video that moving forward, he would invest his money in businesses, entrepreneurs, and foundations that he believes "have a mission to serve and build trust while also generating prosperity."

The actor was asked to elaborate on his decision not to run for governor during his appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon" Tuesday night. He explained that with three children ages 13, 11, and 8, a bid for governor is not something that he could do alongside raising a family and acting, which he expressed a desire to continue doing.

When Fallon pressed McConaughey, asking if he had ruled out the possibility of seeking political office at a later date, the actor responded, "I'm not until I am."

When previously asked about his political philosophy and approach to governing by Jeff Krasno in an interview for the Commune podcast in July, McConaughey explained that he is more of a centrist rather than aligning himself with a particular political party.

Matthew McConaughey Explains Why He Didn’t Campaign for Texas Governor | The Tonight Showwww.youtube.com

"We're all much more centrist than we're led to believe we are," McConaughey said. "We have the numbers. ... We're running the ship. Now, there's a couple of militia pirate groups that are coming over on the far right and the far left, and we're being told that they're the absolute boogeyman and we better be scared. ... Let's kick 'em off the boat. Don't let 'em board," McConaughey said, according to Newsweek.

There has been some speculation regarding how well the actor would have done if he'd entered the race.

A poll conducted at the University of Texas at Tyler found McConaughey was more favorable among voters than Beto O'Rourke, with a 22% margin of favorability over the Democrat. The same poll reported that McConaughey had an 8% favorability edge over incumbent Governor Greg Abbott.