Noah May, Former Chair of Gilmer County Democrats

The North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble podcast covers democratic politics in North GA, the 9th Congressional District, and across the state of Georgia. The podcast comprises a Q&A/Interview format with various democratic politicos including county chairs, democratic operatives, politicians, and more. It is our mission to deliver crucial information to our listeners in a timely manner as we fight for community values and principles in the 3rd most Conservative district in the state. Our website is: https://www.fcdpga.com/podcasts

Our guests will highlight democratic activities and actions to work toward a Blue Georgia. The 9th Congressional District spans 20 counties across the region and covers a good deal of northern GA including Blue Ridge, Morganton, Fannin, Union, Banks, Athens/Clarke, Dawson, Elbert, Forsyth, Franklin, Gilmer, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Jackson, Lumpkin, Madison, Pickens, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, and White counties. 

Our democratic party podcast also disseminates information and interviews powerful Democrats across the state of GA who are working to overthrow the suppression tactics of the GOP and ensure democracy and our values, grassroots efforts, and goals remain intact. 

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Meral Clarke: 0:19

Hello, and welcome to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced in distributed by the Fannin County Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our guest, Noah May chair of the Gilmer county democrats and founding member of the North Georgia young Democrats. Welcome to the show. Noah, we're happy to have you with us today.

Noah May: 0:42

Thanks. It's great to be here.

Meral Clarke: 0:43

Yay. So just so our listeners know a little bit about you know, what is a native Gilmer county in who earned a Master's of Public Administration from Columbus State University. Noah serves as chair of the Gilmer county democrats and is a founding member of the North Georgia young Democrats. In his free time, no one enjoys exploring all the beautiful and natural wonders of Gilmer County, in North Georgia, and reading about American history, baking fresh bread, and spoiling his dog. Don't we all? So glad you're here. No, I thank you again. So tell us a little bit about what you do more specifically, When did you become interested in politics? And why? And why did you choose the Democratic Party,

Noah May: 1:35

I think I've always been interested in politics, my mother would read books to me about the Presidents when I was young, that was that was our bedtime stories. I've always been interested in politics. But as far as being a democrat is concerned, that's something that is relatively new. I was raised by Republican parents, and even in high school, I tended to lean a little more towards the right. However, the Bush years with the war in Afghanistan, sort of made me turn off to the Republican Party a little bit. And then in college, and during the recession, I learned that the Republican Party really wasn't in it for everyone. And if you weren't rich, then it was very difficult to get any attention from the Republican Party. So and then my father died. Oh, sorry. It's fine. And I further learned that the democrats were wanting to help people and that have fallen on unfortunate times, and the republicans were not interested in doing that. So that is how I became a Democrat. My life experiences are the culmination of my life experiences have led me to the Democratic Party.

Meral Clarke: 2:57

Fantastic, as it has for so many of us. So building on that what issue or issues are the most important ones do you think are facing our country right now?

Noah May: 3:09

I would say right now, the environment, although it's not one of those issues, that people give a lot of thought to the cause it is slower. However, our the change in the climate is slower, however, on we do need to do something now or else we could have irreparable damage to our environment. And also, I think infrastructure, I think we definitely need to fix our infrastructure and have a rail network that can rival like China or Europe, or really any part of the world and make it easier to get from place to place in a clean and sustainable manner.

Meral Clarke: 3:55

Correct? Correct. So climate change in the environment, along with green transportation is something that that is of particular interest. I have to say that I would agree with you on that. Europeans are decades ahead of us when it comes to transportation. So we certainly need to play catch up. And thank goodness for Secretary Pete. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think he's doing a great job so far. So it personally What do you hope to accomplish as chair of the Gilmer democrats and how do you propose accomplishing your goals?

Noah May: 4:34

So I'd love to get more voters voting Democrat. I mean, I think that'd be great. Also, I'd love to see a little more bipartisanship To be quite honest with you. Hmm. I'm really trying my darndest to work with the Gilmer Republicans.

Meral Clarke: 4:51

How's that going?

Noah May: 4:52

Well, we are having a bipartisan roundtable with one of our commissioners actually good, very good. So that's a good start. Cuz I mean, I feel like there are issues that all Americans agree on. But it's unfortunate that we can't accomplish things just because we're a different party. And I think I think that bipartisanship is important. So bipartisanship, and then also getting more democratic voters out there. How we want to do that on getting our name out there, and trying to tell the public that, hey, Democrats are not these horrible, nasty people where we're very nice people that want a lot of the same stuff that you want.

Meral Clarke: 5:37

Exactly. We have more in common. Yeah. And then we do not I quite, I completely agree with you. But how do you navigate that in an area, our North Georgia area where we're at 20 80%, red and 20%? Blue? How, how are you getting your initiatives across? Sure.

Noah May: 5:58

So we're trying letters to the editor. I think that that will help. And also, I have a biweekly column that I'm doing along with a republican on different issues. So that's the main way where we're doing lat

Meral Clarke: 6:17

Okay. Okay. That's, that's terrific. And you've you found that that's effective for

Noah May: 6:21

you. I mean, we've only been doing it for like a month. So

Meral Clarke: 6:26

Time will tell time will tell.

Noah May: 6:28

Exactly.

Meral Clarke: 6:30

So, on top of everything else, Noah, you co founded, correct. The North Georgia young Democratic Party, the North Georgia young democrats Tell us about that correct. What led you to that

Noah May: 6:42

correct? Yes. So we wanted to form a young democrats group in Gilmer County, because there was quite a bit of interest for that. But then, Jean, Chris, there are not district Chair of the democrats came to me and said that Miranda, Rupp key was also wanting to form a not district, young democrats group. So we teamed up together and formed the ninth district, the North Georgia young Democrats, and Miranda is actually the chair and she is doing a great job. The reason why we formed it is to give young people that are Democrats a community to be a safe space where they can, they can proudly be democrats

Meral Clarke: 7:34

and and feel that they can speak out and voice their opinions without fear of pushback.

Noah May: 7:42

Exactly. Yes, exactly. Yes. And

Meral Clarke: 7:45

push back. You know, and we've experienced that here in Fanon, obviously, as well. And it seems that it's become more difficult to navigate the political landscape because Georgia republicans and others, but Georgia, Republicans have become so argumentative. Right? He, they seem to be angry all the time. And I don't really understand that, but there it is. have you encountered the same issues?

Noah May: 8:18

Oh, yeah, absolutely. I feel like there are a lot of people angry and angry at people for just being a Democrat, which I think is

Meral Clarke: 8:29

insane. Ridiculous.

Noah May: 8:33

I mean, I personally, if people are Republicans, I'm not upset with them about that. They can be Republicans, libertarians, whatever. Yeah, I've definitely encountered that anger. And that sense of my ways, the only way and I think that's a very dangerous thing. In a, well, a republic, which is the form of government, the founders chose, because they wanted a diverse nation full of diverse views.

Meral Clarke: 9:05

Right. So it does seem antithetical to the founding fathers vision. So that said, What are you most excited about with the North Georgia? democrats? What are they doing? And we're certainly going to ask Miranda, to be on the show as well. Excellent. Very good. Yes, we look forward. We definitely look forward to that. But tell me what you're excited about.

Noah May: 9:27

I'm excited about having a community just to be honest with you. I think that that's going to be the greatest thing and having a support system for young people who are Democrats so that they don't have to fear for sharing their views, which no one in America under the First Amendment should have to fear right for sharing their view. Right. So I think that that is what I'm absolutely most excited about is having that community and that support system. So

Meral Clarke: 9:58

that's great. And what is Your ultimate vision for the North Georgia mountains.

Noah May: 10:03

So how the air charter is written is that we'll have one big chapter for the whole ninth district. And then if county gets big enough, or if there's a university out there that has enough members, they can break off and form their own chapter. So I'd love to see the North Georgia democrats be dissolved in each county have their own chapter. I think that'd be fantastic. Yes. But we're we're just in the we're just in the growing stages right now. So we are still at just the North Georgia young dems. But I'd love to see every county have a chapter.

Meral Clarke: 10:39

That would be terrific. I would love to see that too. So talking about the current events of this week, and it seems like every day, just like it was during the Trump years, it seems every day the republicans are doing one thing or another that goes against or should go against their conservative principles, not seeing any irony there as well. But what are your thoughts on the Liz Cheney ouster in the US House of Representatives? How are you feeling about that?

Noah May: 11:08

I think it is shocking, to be quite honest with you. I think that the Republican Party is not the party of Lincoln any longer now, like they would like to claim. And it seems like they're they're not wanting to debate ideas any longer, unfortunately, at least the House Republicans, because Liz Cheney wanted the party to be a party of ideas and not focus on one person. There are some House Republicans, though, that do still want the republican party to be a party of ideas. And I greatly respect them for that. I think that they're very courageous and kind of admire them, even though I might disagree with some of their ideas. But at least it used to be civil. Right? Exactly. Exactly. Yeah.

Meral Clarke: 11:59

Republicans and Democrats could sit down together and they could work together. Look at Bill Clinton and newt gingrich. That was a while back. But yeah, it hasn't been that way for, unfortunately, for quite a while.

Noah May: 12:13

And I'm hoping that disability can come back. But it seems that there are some, especially in the Senate that seem to want to Stonewall, whatever president Barton wants to do, no matter if it helps their constituents or not.

Meral Clarke: 12:30

Right, exactly. You know, Mitch McConnell saying that his number one job was to stop the democrats with everything, any and every bill that they want to pass. And certainly that's relatively new, that kind of attitude in terms of history. So it's unfortunate. It is it is indeed, and then there's Marjorie, Taylor green, and AOC. What is that all about? And what are your thoughts on that exchange? should she be censored? I think she should.

Noah May: 12:59

I don't know about this exchange. What is the the exchange about

Meral Clarke: 13:05

it just hang out.

Noah May: 13:06

Okay.

Meral Clarke: 13:07

Marjorie Taylor green, if you recall, got into David hawgs. face. Yes,

Noah May: 13:12

I do remember that.

Meral Clarke: 13:14

Yes. And apparently she did the same to AOC. And it was quite threatening. And it was basically a verbal assault is what happened. So I'm curious to see how that shakes out. We do plan to ask Marcus flowers to join us as well. He's running against against Merkel. Excellent. We all know that's an Yes. But we all know that's an uphill battle. Yeah. Hopefully, we'll be able to, you know, get past this. The craziness that, you know, even even truly conservative Republicans are accepting this without question. It's flabbergasting, but at any rate, okay. So it seems like you're doing quite a bit of work in your county, good for you. And I look forward to hearing more about the young democrats with Miranda. So now to the fun part, our fun lightning round. And my inner geek, my inner geek and my outer geek is smiling. Just so you know. Um, but yeah, I'm gonna ask my favorite question last, but on a scale of one to 10. how good of a driver are you? Not that you're in Atlanta? So I don't know how important Well,

Noah May: 14:24

it. It changes in Atlanta. I will tell you that. I'm sure I prefer to take Marta, if I'm in Atlanta. I would say I am a good seven. Oh, I said bad. My family and my friends would probably write me about a four.

Meral Clarke: 14:42

And why would they write you a four?

Noah May: 14:43

They just say that I'm a terrible driver. Oh dear. So

Meral Clarke: 14:50

Okay, moving on. What was your favorite childhood TV show?

Noah May: 14:54

Rugrats for sure.

Unknown: 14:56

Yeah, why was that? Oh,

Noah May: 14:58

I loved I loved that. All the characters in Rugrats, Tommy Angelica, and I like the stories to that they were. They were fun and it was funny.

Meral Clarke: 15:08

Okay, cake or pie cake. Absolutely. Cake always always over in what's your favorite cake? Oh gosh. Oh there's so many I'm sure

Noah May: 15:19

there are I like I love making Coca Cola cake. But I really want to eat it. Well I like eating Coca Cola cake. So you and I like eating red velvet cake. So I think it'd be a tie between Coca Cola cake and red bell but

Meral Clarke: 15:33

I am not familiar with Coca Cola. Oh, you're going to have to send me the recipe for that.

Noah May: 15:38

I will do that wonderful having in my computer

Meral Clarke: 15:40

going to hold you to that. No. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

Noah May: 15:44

I would say vanilla. Or Oh no, no, I know a better one. I love Ben and Jerry's milk and cookies.

Meral Clarke: 15:52

Oh, so good. So good. I can't buy it because I'll eat the entire pie. It's it's really sad. Oh, paper plastic. I'm guessing. Yeah, paper for sure. Considering your climate change initiative. Yes. In interest. sourdough or wheat? I'd say wheat. Why I like

Noah May: 16:11

the flavor of wheat a little bit better. And sometimes I like the texture a little bit better if it like has some seeds in there. Or? Yeah, if it's like multi grain wheat bread. I really like love cream. I really like that.

Meral Clarke: 16:29

Very healthy and it's probably better for you to so there you go. That said do you Instagram your food?

Noah May: 16:35

If I make it I will occasionally Instagram my food. Or if it's if it's like a really special meal. I'll Instagram it. But

Meral Clarke: 16:43

I can't wait to see that. Do you? Do you fancy yourself a pretty good cook?

Noah May: 16:48

I think I'm a pretty good cook. Yeah. And I've been told that I'm a pretty good cook. So we have

Meral Clarke: 16:54

to have a dinner party. Yeah. And see how that goes. I can't wait. Super Mario Brothers or Zelda

Noah May: 17:01

Super Mario Brothers for sure why that's what I played as a child. We had a Super Nintendo and I would always play Super Mario Brothers. And then in college, I had a we and Mario Kart was the thing to play. So I'm definitely a Mario person.

Meral Clarke: 17:17

Excellent. Good to now these are all good to know. So finally, and my favorite question, if Voldemort offered you a hug, would you accept? That's a tough one, isn't it?

Noah May: 17:29

Yes, it is. What is is he like, this isn't a or is he like? Um, and in his original form? And I think it I think it would depend if Tom Riddle offered me a hug. I would take it if the the guy that is the character of Voldemort offered me a hug. I would likely not take it no forgiveness.

Meral Clarke: 17:59

Definitely a Harry Potter fan. I love it. I love it. And before you go, and you've been so great, and we so appreciate you being on the show. Tell us a fun fact about yourself something that most people don't know. Well, you know, cooking is one. But tell us something that most people don't know about you and that our listeners might be interested in hearing about.

Noah May: 18:21

I've been to all 50 states. Get out.

Meral Clarke: 18:23

Really? Wow. That's impressive. That's truly impressive. What were some of your favorite states other than Georgia?

Noah May: 18:31

Of course. Well, yes. I love Georgia. Georgia is a beautiful state.

Meral Clarke: 18:35

Yes it is.

Noah May: 18:36

But I love California California is a really really pretty state. And I love Vermont. Vermont is absolutely gorgeous. It is especially in the fall. Oh yeah, absolutely. And then I also like Arizona, and Nevada some of those western states. I think the West is just absolutely gorgeous. It is

Meral Clarke: 18:59

wide open to there it is to see and natural beauty. Our country holds so much natural beauty so it's good for you. You're well traveled young man.

Noah May: 19:11

Yeah, I I do enjoy my traveling. Oh,

Meral Clarke: 19:14

that is that is great to know. Well thank you, Noah for joining us today and sharing more about your groups. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to this episode of the North Georgia Blue Podcast. We hope you'll listen in next time when our special guest will be Lisa Gill Gardner share of the ninth district democratic women. To learn more about the Fannin County democrats and the work we're doing. Feel free to visit us online at Fannin County, Georgia democrats calm and consider sharing the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family. Join us again as we get into some more good trouble