Eric Opiela

Eric Opiela served as the Executive Director of the Republican Party of Texas from 2008-2009, and most recently was its Associate General Counsel from 2010-2017. He was Chairman of the Karnes County Republican Party for four years, represented Senate District 21 on the Texas State Republican Executive Committee for two terms, and represented Texas on the Credentials Committee of the last two Republican National Conventions. In addition to his volunteer service as an elected party official, he has represented numerous federal, state, and local candidates and political committees in campaign finance and election law matters.

He is also active in his community, serving as founding President of the Karnes City Independent School District Education Foundation, where he remains as a director, raising over a quarter of a million dollars annually for the rural schools of Karnes County, as Treasurer of the Catholic Community Foundation of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, and as a trustee of the Catholic Fraternity Fund, which provides investment opportunities for catholic charitable organizations in the Archdiocese and beyond.

Eric graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin and earned his law degree from the University of Texas School of Law. After law school, he clerked for The Honorable Mary Ellen Coster Williams, on the United States Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Eric and his wife, Lara, split time between Karnes City and Austin with their two children, Natalie and Ryan.