Sarah Todd, Vice Chair of Congressional District Chairs and County Party Liaison for the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG)

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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Transcript

Meral Clarke: 0:18

Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our guests Sarah Todd, Vice Chair of congressional district chairs and county committee liaison for the Democratic Party of Georgia or DPG. Welcome to the show. Sara. We're happy to have you with us today.

Sarah Todd: 0:45

Thank you. I'm happy to be here. I love spending time with my Fannin County, Dan's

Meral Clarke: 0:49

excellent as the vice chair of Georgia's congressional district chairs and county committees for the Democratic Party of Georgia. It's quite helpful that Sarah Todd has done both jobs. Sarah chaired the Newton County democratic committee for 10 years and is a former chair of the fourth congressional district. A lifelong Democrat her involvement with the party spans decades. She has won numerous awards for her commitment to the party, and her volunteer work in her community, including the Democratic Party of Georgia's Chairman award from Chairman DuBose squirter the DPG speaker Tom Murphy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Newton County NAACP achievement of excellence for political representation award. Although born in Jefferson City, Missouri, Sarah's family moved to Georgia when she was just six years old. She's a graduate of Newton County High School in Covington, and Georgia Southern University in statesboro. Sara currently resides in Covington, with her husband, Brian and their son Carter. Outside of politics, Sara's two greatest passions are volunteering at Carter School, where she is a substitute teacher, and an active board member of the PTO while advocating for and raising Autism Awareness. My goodness, Sarah, how do you do it all?

Sarah Todd: 2:11

You know, I'm really not sure, but I do actually get. But I give it my best shot or whatever I do things I enjoy. I love working on progressive causes. And my son Carter, who's named Dr. Jimmy Carter, Oh, very nice, is on the autism spectrum. So it's not only my job as a parent, but it's my privilege to be able to tell other people what exactly it means to be on the autism spectrum. And to show them that these individuals are just people who want to be loved and can do amazing things to

Meral Clarke: 2:47

Yes, they can. And I actually have a couple friends with autistic children. So I am aware of how important it is to raise awareness. So everyone knows that autistic people are like everyone else, frankly, and can do anything that anyone else can do. And thank you. Thank you for your advocacy in that area. But we have a lot of ground to cover. So let's get to it. First of all, we'll start off with an easy one. What is your role in the DPG? And what exactly do you do?

Sarah Todd: 3:18

The quick answer is that I am the contact person for all congressional district chairs throughout the state, and I helped to oversee all of our county committees.

Meral Clarke: 3:29

Wow. All 159 counties?

Sarah Todd: 3:32

Well, we're almost there. We currently have 128 County committees that is up from the roughly 55 when I started so

Meral Clarke: 3:43

I've been a little bit. That's impressive. How long have you been doing this job?

Sarah Todd: 3:47

I was first put into this role in January of 2015. And no one ran against me. And I thought that was the oddest thing. And then I got in there and I saw how things weren't. I was like, well, that explains a lot. No

Meral Clarke: 4:01

wonder.

Sarah Todd: 4:02

And so I was reelected in January of 2019. So I'm on my second term. Now.

Meral Clarke: 4:07

I don't think they're ever going to let you go Sarah. Yes. It's a good thing. Oh, do you Is this a volunteer position? Or do you get paid for your position with the DPG

Sarah Todd: 4:18

they are all volunteer positions for the officers. We are glad to serve our party. I personally consider it a privilege to be able to do what I do on a daily basis. But we are not paid a salary for this.

Meral Clarke: 4:32

Okay, so strictly volunteer. So when we interviewed June Chris, who is of course the chair of the ninth District, which is where we are, she went into at my property she went into a bit of detail about how to go about starting a county committee in a county that doesn't have one, but can you touch on that for our listeners who may be interested?

Sarah Todd: 4:54

I will do that. Although for the ninth congressional district, you all are amazing. As a committee, you're genuinely want to be best organized, congressional districts we have in the state.

Meral Clarke: 5:05

I will,

Sarah Todd: 5:06

I will thank you on behalf of June, it is all nice and she is you just do what God tells you. And everyone's okay.

Meral Clarke: 5:13

Absolutely. She is the boss of me. And me. So can you touch on how exactly to go about that? Well, we tried to get together

Sarah Todd: 5:21

a group of individuals who genuinely believe in the ideals of the Democratic Party and who want to do the work in our county, that others do throughout the state, we need at least 10 individuals who are willing to start up a committee. And then we can put this group into what we call information stats accounting committee has an entire year to go through all of the process of writing bylaws, and electing committee members and electing officers and establishing a bank account. And electing everyone and organizing them into the districts that they have to be in per our own state bylaws. So there's a lot that goes into it. A lot of it is very administrative. But I work very closely with the city chair, and the individuals who are the core group who have started the group to make sure that they're progressing and doing everything they need to. And then when we feel that they are strong enough to function on their own without our oversight, I call for a vote of the executive committee of the state and ask them to be chartered as a committee for us. And I've never had one rejected yet.

Meral Clarke: 6:31

Wow, terrific. So how many I think you you may have said this before, but how many county committees now exist across the

Sarah Todd: 6:39

state? Currently, we have 128. That is

Meral Clarke: 6:43

amazing. And what is the DPG doing to encourage the other counties to become more involved?

Sarah Todd: 6:51

Well, we are really working with our field organization, we were extremely fortunate to have some amazing individuals working for us last year for our field operation for the 2020 elections. And we work very closely with those individuals who stayed on with us, which is a fantastic thing. Matt infield and Ernest Boston Jr. are the best at what they do. And they stay with us. So we are we kind of all work together as like, Did you hear that there's someone in this county that says they want to start something. If we hear a rumor, anything just written on the wind, we will find these people and work with them to get a group together. So you offer a lot of support. Yes. Fantastic. Going back to the cannon, since that's where we are and the ninth congressional district. Are we the largest district in the state? Or if not, who is No, you are not the largest district. All of the districts are equal in population. Gotcha. But size wise, your districts, your neighbors to the south are far more expensive. Then the ninth district is the second congressional district has 29 counties in it. The eighth congressional district spans from making all the way to the Florida line. Wow, Augusta, all the way down to Jeff Davis county and a big chunk of Middle Georgia is for the 12th district in the first taste of the entire coast.

Meral Clarke: 8:20

Right. That's quite expansive.

Sarah Todd: 8:22

Yeah, there's very large, just land wise districts, right.

Meral Clarke: 8:26

Sometimes it feels like we're the largest because we're since we're so rural, yes, and spread out across 20 counties. So it's good to know that there are other counties out there that are that are working, working our goals, and trying to get us to where we need to be

Sarah Todd: 8:43

Yes, your brothers and sisters in the south know exactly what it's like to get in that car and drive and drive.

Meral Clarke: 8:48

I'm sure they do. So do the individual county committees. What kind of help do they get from the state? Do they get a lot of help from the state? Or from the DPG? What exactly other than helping them, you know, organize and get certified? Do you offer any funding or anything along those lines?

Sarah Todd: 9:09

Currently, we do not. And honestly, it's just been historically because we have not had the funding to do so. This past election cycle was the first time in a very long time where we just had money pouring in lovely everywhere and it was the greatest thing on earth. We have been very fortunate that we're continuing to receive a lot of outside funding, but we also get a lot of funding from our small dollar donors here in the state. But we haven't been able to give a lot of direct funding in the past. We offer legal advice to our county committees to make sure that the legally functioning like they should be okay on top of that, that is actually one of the reasons why I ran for the position I did in late 2014 and early 2015. I was a county chair as I said And we never got anything from the state. Honestly, I couldn't even get a response back from somebody when I needed to ask a question. And for the gubernatorial election in 2014, when Jason Carter was running, I just wanted someone in the state to design something for me a dorm hanger, honestly. And I just wanted them to do it, where I can plug my County's information in. And on one side, or any other county could do it in the state, I was going to print it myself, I was going to do everything else involved, except for just having them design it for me, I would find our union printer, I would do all of that. I couldn't get anyone to return a call or say that I agree that they would do that for me. And it just it made me so mad, because it's so basic, and it would have helped everyone in the state. Sure. My County New is kind of on the cusp of the metro, we're considered a metro Atlanta County, even though we're kind of the outer edge of it, right. And that would have helped me in my county, I can't imagine what it would have done for somebody up in Fannin, or Union County or down in crisp County, it would have made a really big difference. Sure, I got no assistance. So after waiting and waiting, I said, Fine. If no one else is going to do it. I'm going to so I ran for this and here we are

Meral Clarke: 11:18

good for you. And obviously you've really changed the DPG for the better, as far as I'm concerned. And thank you.

Sarah Todd: 11:26

Well, I'm glad to do it. And that's what I brought to this role. When I first took over, I saw that the few counties that we did have that were functioning, literally every one of them did something different. There was absolutely no consistency whatsoever throughout the state. And one that's a terrifying thing when you're trying to run a statewide organization. Sure. And it was just so messy. There were no proper records. We didn't know who was doing what. So the first honestly, two years, I spent just trying to get everyone on the same page. And everyone basically seen from the same hymn book that took a while but I feel like we are there now. Yes, that's definitely

Meral Clarke: 12:10

yes. And thank you for that. Because you know, we need to be cohesive in our messaging. So that really helps. So speaking of politics, the midterms are coming up and the GOP, GA and they're regressive laws, how is the DPG gotten involved with fighting the extremely suppressive sb 202 law, which has now passed?

Sarah Todd: 12:34

Well, first thing that we are doing is making sure that all of our members or, you know, just independent thinkers, and individuals throughout the state know exactly what was in it, because most of those lawmakers, especially the GOP ones, they didn't even read it for themselves, right? It was just handed to them by Alec and other right wing organizations. And they just did what they were told, because you know, oh, Democrats won, that's bad. So they did what they were told by their corporate masters and everyone else, so they ran this through, and they didn't really think about the repercussions that was going to take. We all know from our point of view that the GOP is extremely regressive, they're extremely racist. And they really do not care about the individual people in this state. So it didn't bother them at all, that they're taking voting rights away from people that they're taking dropboxes away from everything else, because democrats are not the only people who use those that shorten the early voting time period. Democrats are not the only ones who do early voting right made it almost impossible to get an absentee ballot on time to get it back in on time. And they got a little assist from their idiots in the federal government, former federal government people at the post office, but luckily, President Biden is straightening that out.

Meral Clarke: 13:58

He's a busy guy, he's almost as busy as you are, yeah,

Sarah Todd: 14:01

we're very close with our time educating the voters of what is in this and how they can work around it. And that's honestly what we're going to be calling it probably for the next two years is our great work around because it's going to have to wind its way through the courts, multiple organizations have already sued on behalf of voters in the State of Georgia. So depending on how long it takes the weight, make its way through the courts. We're just going to do everything we can do like we did last year, we will mobilize our voters, we will educate them on the issues at hand, and we will get them to the polls.

Meral Clarke: 14:38

Thank you for that. Yes. Is there any chance of it being repealed or is our only hope the, you know, going through the court system,

Sarah Todd: 14:47

I find it highly unlikely that it would be repealed, just because even the courts have been institutionalized with Republican thought processes. In our state. They were very sneaky about how they did it, but I tip my hat to them, you know, everyone hated Tom the light. But when I referred to him as the hammer, he kept his pockets in order and got things done. Well, they were very stuff like here in Georgia as well, I got people on the porch where they needed them to be, they put them in certain offices where they need to be. So they've been able to get a lot done that, unfortunately has been very hazardous for Georgia. So I feel like our best bet and the one that we are honestly encouraging everyone to contact their congressional people is for the john lewis Voting Rights Act to be passed. Yes,

Meral Clarke: 15:40

yes, that must pass. It's so important. And I'm hoping that it does. So with the midterms coming up in 2022. What do you think are the biggest challenges that can committees face right now?

Sarah Todd: 15:53

We'll be trying to get voters to understand the changes that have taken place with this law. Education? Yes, it will definitely be one of our biggest focuses for us. Because you know, everyone takes it for granted. Oh, it's elections coming up those who vote in the midterms. And that's another thing we have to really work on, because our voting numbers are a little lower in midterms. But at the DPG, we have a saying, we don't have off yours anymore. We have building yours. Oh, I like that. And that's what we're doing. Now. We're building out our committees, we're building out our networks. We're building out our field organization to make sure that we can get out there face to face this summer, hopefully, yay, yes. And talk to the people and let them know why it's critical that they have to go to the polls next year. We got to make sure that we have a progressive democrat in the governor's mansion. Yes. We know that they're redrawing amounts right now. So we have to have somebody in there who's going to be fighting for us not only in the governor's mansion, we have to have an attorney general, who does not pay for buses to send any direction as to the Capitol to storm the Capitol. Really, I wasn't aware of that. Oh, our current Attorney General Chris Carr, was the head of an organization that paid for the buses that sent all these people to DC so they could storm the Capitol.

Meral Clarke: 17:21

Oh, my Yeah, that is more than disappointing. It's devastating to hear that. Oh, it's

Sarah Todd: 17:26

the Georgia republican way. Yes.

Meral Clarke: 17:29

And you've been working against the Georgia republican party for the democrats for a long time. So you would know do you feel like the party in Georgia has evolved from being perhaps more reasonable to being unreasonable? And just ramming through all these changes without thinking about how it will affect the constituents? why they've evolved for the worst?

Sarah Todd: 17:52

I absolutely do think that they devolved. That's,

Meral Clarke: 17:56

that's a better word.

Sarah Todd: 17:57

Yes, that's where they're at now, even maybe 10 years ago, you could still at least reason with a few that were there. But now they shock you for the latest soundbite they see who can get more favors from Fox News than anyone else. They don't really concern themselves with actually governing. Yes, it is all about posturing is all about who that can please. It is all about winning the approval from daddy.

Meral Clarke: 18:24

Yes, very disappointing. Very. So speaking of gerrymandering, and redistricting, how is the DPG fighting that what are we doing to try to fight that effort in this,

Sarah Todd: 18:38

but we are doing everything we can to bolster our house and senate caucuses. They're the ones right now on the frontline fighting for us. We have some amazing individuals in our caucuses do such great work. We've had a lot of really fantastic leaders emerge this past legislative session, especially our Vice Chair for constituency groups, Representative B. Gwynn, she has done a lot of work on behalf of the State, Jen Jordan, who is an attorney by trade, we've got a lot of good people and their staff and the people that they surround themselves with right are working really hard to ensure that fairness is put into play here. And that's the to me that's the thing is I don't think they understand the GOP understands what the word fairness means and more. The reason I'm a democrat is because I believe in a level playing field for everyone. Yes, and they believe and the field is theirs and you can't come on it so we can't even meet in the middle anymore. Really. It's just we have to make sure that we are electing good people all up and down the ballot so that we can make these corrections that need to be done for Georgia net.

Meral Clarke: 19:51

Right. And I do want to mention since you brought them up that gender is actually running against Chris Carr for Georgia State Attorney General And be Gwen, of course is running for Secretary of State. What are your thoughts about her race against Brad rapids burger who this poor guy? I mean, he's a republican. And of course he's he's extremely conservative, but his own people turned on him. And well, what are your thoughts about that?

Sarah Todd: 20:19

Well, I think it's it's been fascinating to watch here in this state. I'm surprised he's announced for reelection, but that's his own ego and arrogance going for him. Of course, the lieutenant governor has already said he won't run and you know, because they Jeff Duncan, yes, tried to run him out of town on a rail as well. Anybody shows any moderation or basically uses common sense at this point for their party, they're out there out there out there, much a mob mentality. And unfortunately, the mob is led by just lesser people. I'll just be nice and say less.

Meral Clarke: 20:57

You're a better woman than I? Okay, well, people

Sarah Todd: 21:01

who know me personally know.

Meral Clarke: 21:04

Sure. So moving forward. Well, the DP GB focusing more effort or funds on broadening the electorate of the rural districts in preparation for the midterms next year?

Sarah Todd: 21:16

Yes, absolutely. That's where I'm focusing all of my attention this year. And because the North has done such a great job of organizing itself, I am focusing solely on South Georgia to bolster our county committee, because the larger network that we have of our county committees, the stronger we are, as a state party, I fully believe our county committees are the absolute foundation of our party. Yes. And we're only as strong as our county committees are. So the more work that I can do to bolster them, the better off we're going to be next year. We are definitely trying our best to expand the electorate. And quite frankly, I appreciate the assist from the republicans because the more that they do, the more people see that they're just for lack of a better word crazy. And they don't want to be associated with that,

Meral Clarke: 22:04

right? And you can't blame them, because would want to be associated with that at this point. So going back to the rural counties across the ninth and 14th congressional districts, we're struggling right now with the recent behavior. And, quite frankly, the incendiary comments made by Marjorie Taylor green, comparing the wearing of master prisoners and in the Holocaust, which is completely absurd. And Andrew Clyde, our representative, we're so proud with his insurrection, comments, calling the writers tourists. Given that you were a former, I'm just flabbergasted by all of it still to this day. Given that you were a former county committee and congressional district share, what can we do? What can the county committees do now to challenge them and place more of a spotlight on their reprehensible actions

Sarah Todd: 22:59

continue to call them out on a daily basis? The one thing that I have noticed about all of our amazing people in the night and the 14th is that anytime these two individuals come up, you know, bless their hearts, Andrew Clyde, with his comments about tourists, but the Muses meeting that way, and especially with the photo of him, cowering behind the Capitol Police Officer. From those tourists, right and then cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, Margarita green. So reprehensible, she, I just don't understand how anyone with more than two brain cells to rub together honestly, or anyone who has an ounce of empathy could go along with what she says. And mercifully, our individuals in the ninth and 14th are always on top of things. I see letters to the editor all the time. I see social media posts all the time. I see people doing things like this podcast or putting out ads on their local am radio stations. just continuing to bring to light the things they say. I'm kind of taking back to when Tina Fey would place their Pailin on side that line. Yes. And there with just the most serious look on her face that now she would do would be literally read what therapy.

Meral Clarke: 24:22

She did the after write me comedy for it.

Sarah Todd: 24:24

She had to write nothing. She just thought it was absurd and ridiculous until I realized, oh my god, that's actually what she's saying. Right? Now I equate these two. They're, they're just buffoons who have been given a platform,

Meral Clarke: 24:40

right? And unfortunately, yeah, by the Republican voters. So just out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the America first tour with Matt gates and her Jerry Taylor green that you know, Kevin McCarthy and others in the Republican leadership have already criticized them for it, and yet, they're still out there instead of four. For their constituents, and of course, Matt Gates has a whole host of legal issues right now. What are your thoughts on them continuing this line of just telling lies to the American people?

Sarah Todd: 25:12

It's great tip. Yes, honestly. And I'm genuinely don't understand why I get why Fox News and news Max and all those other learning, right wing people do their things because they keep people start up and night with that they keep their dollars coming in, in certain ways. But I don't get why they're still being given a pass by, quote unquote, mainstream news. Honestly, these are the biggest bullies on the playground. Yes, they should not be given the platform that they've been given you reference mats, legal troubles. Honestly. I wouldn't let anyone I knew and cared about near him no matter what their age. Oh, sure. Because he's just he's a predator.

Meral Clarke: 25:56

Yes, pretty much so. And she just seems

Sarah Todd: 25:59

to throw out the most sensationalistic things that she possibly can just for the sake of the shock value that she can get, I literally want to get in their faces one day and just ask, Do you honestly believe the things that you're saying?

Meral Clarke: 26:14

I'm cynical, and I'm going to say no. But I am. I'm extremely cynical about everyone in the GOP leadership right now and why they're there. It's it's appalling,

Sarah Todd: 26:25

right. And they are still there, Marjorie and Matt, because the Republican leadership will not stand up and do what they have to do and what they should be doing, which is saying this is not how we as a country need to conduct ourselves that we may have differences of opinion, but we are all still people. Marjorie Taylor Greene follows teenagers around and heckles them. They're referring

Meral Clarke: 26:48

to David Hogg, of course, with Parkland, yes, the gun survivors group,

Sarah Todd: 26:53

she's just a horrible human being,

Meral Clarke: 26:55

it is extremely disturbing. And I had young children, I certainly would not want them to be watching that. Or to even behave. I don't know, any parent, Republican or Democrat that would allow their children to behave in such a manner No. And yet, she gets a pass. It's incredible to me, and I will never be able to wrap my mind around it. But you know, here we are, at this point in 2021. Going into 2022.

Sarah Todd: 27:23

Well, they've been shown that they can completely get away with it because their former leader was allowed a past the entire four years that he occupied the White House,

Meral Clarke: 27:34

do you think this is going to come back to bite the GOP,

Sarah Todd: 27:36

I think they've had a lot of defections leading up to this point. I mean, some very influential people within their party, just decent. People don't want to be associated with that anymore. Even just the rank and file. I have a very good friend of mine in my county who, Atlanta she was a former officer of the Newton County Republican Party. And we would just have a dialogue with one another. And she got to her she can do it. She was a never trumper in 2016, she went up to them. And in 2018, she proudly voted for Stacey 2020. She proudly voted for Biden, because she does not understand what happened to her party. And for her, I feel bad for her. I do too. She is a true conservative. She was brought up this way her family was that way their whole lives. And, you know, they'd laugh and say, Oh, I didn't leave the party. The party let me know her party did leave her behind. And they have willingly embraced this fringe spectacle conspiracy

Meral Clarke: 28:39

theorists and yeah, thoughts and things that make absolutely no sense anti science, anti women. It's just so many things.

Sarah Todd: 28:47

Yeah. And she's representative of so many people in this country who just know like, that when they do finally take a step back and look like this isn't me, and I can't go along with this anymore.

Meral Clarke: 29:01

Yes, most definitely. I hope that they will be able to band together and take their party back from the fringe elements because this is pure insanity, as far as I'm concerned. So how closely does the DPG work, work with the National Democratic Party? What's the relationship there?

Sarah Todd: 29:19

We have a very good relationship with our party. Our dancy members work very hard for us. Our Chairwoman is a DNC member and she was once she became

Meral Clarke: 29:30

the as our chair you're referring to the chemo Williams.

Sarah Todd: 29:33

Thank you, Bill Williams. Yes. And our first vice chair Ted Kerry is also a DNC member by the nature of his position as well. Then we have others who are elected by our party to represent us and they do a lot of work on our behalf. Our staff, works very closely with the DNC staff, and we have very good relationships with them. I talked to a lot of people in the DNC to get assistance with them. we're updating our bylaws this year. Finally. Congratulations. It's been a while, let's just say the current bylaws were written before I was born. And I'm the oldest officer. Incredible. Yeah, so we're very excited to be updating our bylaws. And I spent a good bit of time with them going over things and getting definitions, right and doing things. And that's the great thing is they're extremely accessible, right? Because they want our state parties to be successful. And they've seen that we're capable of it, because they have watched us do the work right

Meral Clarke: 30:35

and succeed in 2020. with of course, electing the senators Warnock and also

Sarah Todd: 30:42

did not happen overnight. We have slugging away at this for the better part of a decade. So it has paid off for us. And we are, we're very gratified that they have seen that we have put in the work behind the scenes and really did the difficult things that had to be done.

Meral Clarke: 31:01

Right. Right. So would you say that we're, I don't think we're quite blue yet. At least not until Stacey Abrams, is in the governor's office and when I love Stacy, so I have to I have to plug her. But would you say we're purple? Purple? Is the correct term?

Sarah Todd: 31:20

Truthfully, I do believe we're a blue state. Okay. We have been for a very long time. It's just when you allow voting systems that only certain individuals command Sharjah to announce your winners, I thoroughly don't believe that we've had true fair elections for a very long time. You know, my father did computer programming for the State of Georgia. And he would always tell me, he said, you know, a computer can only do what it's told to do, right? So these systems that we have been using for a very long time, I really did not have a lot of faith in. And this last one, the thing that amuses me to no end that the republicans screaming bloody murder about the 2020 election is genuinely, that's probably the most fair and open election the state's ever had. I believe it yes, that that's when democrats win when everyone is allowed to participate, right? And when you can audit and audit and audit and audit those numbers and see that this is how it actually happen. Democrats win, right? our ideas are better than the republicans ideas are people get out there and do the work. We talk to our neighbors, we show them why our way is the better way. And so it pays off at the voting booth. Certainly. So I'm, I genuinely believe we've been a blue state for a while and I fully intend to make sure that we stay that way, I have

Meral Clarke: 32:47

no doubt that you will succeed. Sarah with that kind of attitude. It seems the GOP can't win unless they cheat. And I consider this to be cheating the voter suppression laws. So I'm glad we have people like you in the state party, who are dedicated, motivated and passionate about their work. It's something that we're all grateful for. Finally, before I let you go, tell me a fun fact about yourself. Something just something personal, not political, something that our listeners would be interested in hearing that we may not know about you.

Sarah Todd: 33:19

Well, let's say I love pink flamingos. I love kind of cheesy tacking things. Honestly, if it's kitschy, I really do I guess,

Meral Clarke: 33:26

yes, I saw your pink flamingos on your Facebook post, I get

Sarah Todd: 33:30

the younger ones, especially our Secretary of the party, Justin, post them back. Like to kid me about now I'm reaching out by the status. Hardly, that we have such a young board, which is really phenomenal. I would say that in the past couple of years, especially the success from Georgia is because we elected leaders who are younger, who think outside the box, and really go the extra mile to bring in all these new thoughts and these new ideas and ways that we can do things better. So we've become a much stronger party because we have some really wonderful people in charge. Yes, we're

Meral Clarke: 34:10

very thankful for no Ma, who is the chair of the Gilmer county democrats and also helped to co found the North Georgia young democrats and they're doing all sorts of wonderful, yes, things for their, you know, for their people and the area and the DPG in general. So yes, getting young folks that are involved is imperative. That is

Sarah Todd: 34:33

truly one of the things that I treasure about my position is being able to mentor our younger people into the party. I can imagine honestly, it's selfish. I'm just trying to find my replacement at this point. So that our young people today they are just leaps and bounds ahead of where I was when I was in college or when I was a younger person. Yeah, truthfully, I have a young gun now. My son is a high school Democrat.

Meral Clarke: 34:59

Good For him, yes,

Sarah Todd: 35:01

I'm so proud of

Meral Clarke: 35:02

him. What a phenomenal young man he is.

Sarah Todd: 35:05

Thank you. Yeah, but our young people are just really leading the way for us. And I feel like it's our job as our older dems to embrace them to welcome them into the party to give them that seat at the table and to hear their ideas. And luckily, our State Leadership agrees with me.

Meral Clarke: 35:23

Fantastic. That really helps. Well, thank you, Sarah, for joining us today and sharing more about the DPG and the various county committees. And Sarah if you could please plug your website and your contact info if anyone if any of our listeners would like to get in touch with you.

Sarah Todd: 35:39

I would be happy to we are Georgia democrats.org. You can get in touch with me. It's Sarah. That's Sa ra h at Georgia democrat.org. And anyone who is a Democrat in the state probably has it already. But my cell phone number is 044087268 and call and text I'm happy to talk to anybody.

Meral Clarke: 36:06

Oh my goodness, that is wonderful. I'm Meral Clarke and on behalf of our team, I'd like to thank everyone for listening to the North Georgia Blue Podcast. We hope you'll listen in next time when our special guest will be Mike Cobb Fannin County Democratic Party Task Force captain for Voter Protection and first vice chair of Voter Protection for the ninth congressional district. To learn more about the Fannin County Democrats in the work we're doing Please visit us online at Fannin County, Georgia Democratic party.com and consider sharing the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family. Please join us again as we get into some more good trouble