Melita Easters, Founding Chair & Exec Director of the Georgia WIN List

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 is in 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 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 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 special guest, Melita Easters, the founding chair and executive director of Georgia WIN List. Welcome to the show, Melita. We're happy to have you with us today.

Melita Easters: 0:41

Thank you so much for having me join you. I've enjoyed being in North Georgia to speak several times in recent months. And it's always delightful to see the enthusiasm you have in those Blue Hills.

Meral Clarke: 0:54

Thank you and we like to think of them as Blue Hills as well. Let's let our listeners know a little bit about you. Melita is the founding chair of Georgia WIN List and has served as executive director since 2015. WIN List is a 21 year old a political action committee or PAC dedicated to changing the face of power in Georgia by electing Democratic women to statewide office and the Georgia General Assembly who are committed to reproductive freedom and economic, educational and legal equality for all women. She is a panelist for the Fox Five show the Georgia Gang on Sunday mornings Atlanta's longest running Public Affairs television show, the National Council of Jewish Women Atlanta chapter presented her with the esteemed Hannah G Solomon award for public service in 2021. So congratulations on both of those very impressive cases. Georgia WIN List has become the leading PAC for electing women in Georgia and has raised more than $2.5 million to support the election of more than 80 endorsed women 46 of whom currently serve. After first calling the group's founding mothers together for a series of meetings in her living room in 1999 Melita served as chair from 2000 to 2005. Ms. Easters is a creative strategic thinker, political strategist and author, playwright with deep connections to Atlanta civic, business and political community. She combines fundraising, leadership, communications, event planning and organizational skills with her background as a former journalist and television producer, she has worked to raise millions for progressive causes and candidates. Her knowledge of Georgia's political history its players and her perspective from decades of involvement make her a valuable adviser to caucuses, campaigns and political leaders. Ms Easters is a University of Georgia graduate Go Dawgs and during her professional career served as State News Editor of the Tifton Gazette, a political reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution eight years as a producer of the lawmakers on Georgia public television and served as press secretary for Roy Barnes during his first bid for governor. She also served on numerous nonprofit boards and chaired numerous fundraising drives for worthy causes. Oh, my You are quite accomplished Melita. We're so excited to have you on.

Melita Easters: 3:29

Well, thank you. I'm just getting old.

Meral Clarke: 3:30

Oh, no, no, you're not getting old. You're getting better like wine. That's my line. And we're going to go with that. So let's dive in and talk about Georgia WIN list. How did that come about? Tell us about your successes across recruiting and training potential candidates, what you do as executive director and just how you decided to form this very important group in Georgia.

Melita Easters: 3:53

We decided to form Georgia WIN List based on the national Emily's List PAC bottle for Congress and US Senate. After Mary Margaret Oliver lost her Lieutenant Governor bid in 1998. We were so upset that she one of the smartest women or men in any room lost to one of the good old boys. And we decided that women needed the support to actually win statewide office that a network of committed women could give. And so we convened a group and met a few times and finally somebody said, Let's just get this thing off the ground and write a check. So she did and we organized with the vision of changing the face of power in Georgia by electing women in numbers. So WIN List not only stands for the wins we want our candidates to receive but it stands for women in numbers electing women in numbers. At the time back in 2000, 44 women served in the General Assembly with 32 of them Democrats and Georgia ranked 32nd in the nation, with 18.6% of women legislators. Kathy Cox had just been appointed Secretary of State. Now even as other states have improved their number of women Georgia ranks 18th in the nation, because we have 33.1% women legislators with a total of 78 women legislators, 60 of them Democrats and 45 of those Democratic women are WIN List endorsed. So our Democratic women legislators in a Republican controlled legislature outnumber their Republican Women colleagues 3.3 to one so I like to feel that we've made a big difference with our efforts to recruit, train support, elect, and reelect qualified women.

Meral Clarke: 5:58

That is quite impressive. So speaking of the General Assembly, what can we expect from the Georgia legislature this year, more nefarious legislation from the GOP curtailing our civil rights? What do you see happening in 2022?

Melita Easters: 6:13

I believe that the general assembly will be a bitter 40 days. There's an old joke about locking up your women and children when the legislature is in session. And this is a year when the forces within the Republican Party will be a great battle with each other over whether the Trumpers who do not wish to see Governor Brian Kemp accomplish anything good that he could run on against David Perdue, who is backed by Trump and the Trump forces. So there will be this battle within the Republican Party which will probably overshadow the kinds of good we elect legislators to go to Atlanta and make happen. So we're already seeing efforts to pass laws that gin up the base, the Republican base, because Republican power in Georgia is dwindling. And the only way they hang on to power and cling to power is by exciting their base and having a higher percentage of their voters turn out than Democrats have to turn out in key elections, like this 2022 battle royale. The political prognosticators are all saying that Georgia is literally the center of the political universe for the United States for the next year. And I believe that's very true. So what we're gonna see are bills that will ban books, we'll probably see, perhaps an abortion bill introduced, we're gonna see bitter fights over the idea of Buckhead cityhood. Now, if the Republicans were smart, they would have their leaders tamp that movement down in the early days of the session, rather than let it be a squabble for the entire 40 days because the movement to de annex portions of the already existing City of Atlanta would have a detrimental impact on the bond ratings, not just for the city of Atlanta, but for every city in the state, the state itself, and entities like the Atlanta airport. Georgia has for decades maintained a triple A the highest possible bond rating and state leaders don't want to see that overturned and lowered. But it's likely to see these divisive things dominate the session, perhaps cooler heads will prevail. But there's 40 days to figure it out.

Meral Clarke: 8:56

That's really a shame because Democrats are working so hard at the state capitol to pass serious and vital legislation for their constituents and the GOP has just blocked everything for the past several years. So how do we combat the Republicans seeming lack of concern for our citizens and how do we fight the perception of their being the family values party when they clearly are not? How do we do that?

Melita Easters: 9:21

By running against them, by placing them in fear of losing power, by fielding common sense strong candidates with deep ties to every community in the state. One of the biggest places where we need to recruit candidates in the coming few months, because qualifying will be here before we know it in March, is for school board seats. The Moral Majority under Ralph Reid's leadership began in its earliest days by recruiting candidates for school boards. Now school boards have become a literal battleground. With police being required to restore order at some school board meetings in Georgia and other places around the nation. People are arguing about whether history will be whitewashed in the schools. And in some cases, Republicans are actually pushing for the teaching of an inaccurate version of history. So there's that battle. And then there are the battles about mask mandates and vaccination, whether teachers should be required to be vaccinated whether students should be required to be vaccinated. So there are many, many battles that the Republicans pick. And speaking of mask mandates and COVID that should never have even been on the radar as a political matter. Any disease is a medical science based discussion. It is the Republicans who make whether or not one wore a mask, a political statement, rather than a public health crisis, which needed to be addressed based on scientific knowledge.

Meral Clarke: 11:07

I completely agree. And it's utterly ludicrous that it's become politicized at this point when it is a public health issue. Indeed. So you spoke of candidate qualifying in March and drilling down to specifics what needs to happen before candidates qualified to run and how do you go about finding potential candidates and grooming them for office prior to their candidacy? What does your group do to help rural counties also like ours to find viable candidates? So that's a three tier question. Let's talk about qualifying. Can you explain that process for our listeners?

Melita Easters: 11:43

So qualifying is usually the first week of March. The dates will be on the Secretary of State's website. Now, that said, there is a slim probably very slim chance that qualifying dates could be changed based on the federal lawsuits and the early hearings we hear on federal lawsuits about the new maps. In some states, the qualifying gets delayed while new maps are drawn. I don't see that happening. But it is a possibility. But qualifying is when candidates pay their qualifying fee and officially register as candidates. Now usually before that happens in trying to determine if their campaign would be a viable campaign, most candidates register their intent to run with the Ethics Commission and began to fundraise and make the calls to raise campaign money. WIN List has a series of training programs. We're working with some other groups for a mid January training session that's not yet been announced. But probably will occur soon around the time this program runs. But we have a variety of training opportunities, including a year long WIN Leadership Academy, which your listeners can read about on our WIN List website. But what I recommend for people before they qualify for any office, whether it is the local school board, the local county commission, the local city council, or the General Assembly, that they actually attend the meetings, and the study sessions or committee meetings of those groups to make sure that when they qualify, they're putting their name on the ballot for something they will actually enjoy or tolerate doing. Because we sometimes end up working very hard for candidates who when they get to the state capitol after they've won, or when they sit on the county commission after they've won hate the job, cannot believe they ever ran in the first place. I literally had a legislator who will not be running for reelection in 2022 tell me late in 2021. I wish I had attended the part of your training, where you tell people to spend a couple of days at the Capitol before they run for the legislature. Because if I had known what it was like to be down there, I might not have run. Well, any political body and particularly in times which are so divisive as now can be a toxic environment. And so some people are not suited for maintaining a calm demeanor in a toxic environment. Some people can let it roll off their back so to speak, but some people internalize it and get their stomach tied up in knots and so it's just better for some people with certain kinds of personalities to find better ways for public service than putting their name on a ballot and having to go attend a bunch of committee hearings when Republicans and Democrats are going at each other's throats.

Meral Clarke: 15:05

Right. That's unfortunate, but understandable. I do understand what you're saying. So we've seen some significant gains across the state in the recent municipal elections and runoffs Yeah, yes. Which is wonderful. I believe we flipped nearly 50 Republican seats to Democrat or da 48. There you go.

Melita Easters: 15:26

And one which was significant, that I think your listeners may not have heard of up in the North Georgia mountains. But with David Perdue, in the race for governor, it's very interesting, because he and Sonny both grew up in Houston County, which includes Perry, but it also includes Warner Robins, which actually is a far bigger city now than Perry. And Warner Robins just elected their first Black woman mayor who defeated a two term Republican incumbent. And yes, city municipal elections are nonpartisan. But everybody in the town usually knows who's who and what's what, politically speaking. So that was a big victory.

Meral Clarke: 16:17

Right. That's a huge victory, especially in smaller areas. So how do you go about recruiting these candidates specifically in rural areas like ours? Where do you find these folks?

Melita Easters: 16:28

Well, usually, it's people who are politically involved. And we encourage everybody to think about running for office, and if not you who, or if not now, when so usually, we are introduced to people who are thinking about running for office, or somebody in a leadership development program, or somebody who's already involved in politics will say, here's the number of somebody I think you ought to call, call them. So people get plugged into the pipeline of recruitment in a variety of ways. And what we like to do is talk to people about whether this is a good time for them to run, and whether the office is a good fit for them and their families. A lot of really, younger women with small children often don't want to run for legislative seats, particularly when they're more than 30 minutes outside the capitol, because it's such a strain on the family. And especially for those rural areas where the woman would need to spend days on end in Atlanta, but we encourage those women to consider running for a county commission school board or city council seat to learn about the parliamentary process to serve the public and build a record of public service that then parlays into seeking higher office when their young children are older. And we have a number of women serving in the legislature, who had prior service on local school boards or city councils. And this makes them very valuable when issues impacting county and municipal policy are later discussed in the legislature.

Meral Clarke: 18:23

So you mentioned David Perdue and Brian Kemp, of course, are locked in battle. And that can only benefit Stacey Abrams. So let's talk about Stacey Abrams for a moment. And do you envision the midterm and general elections seeing the large turnout this year? And how do you think Stacey will impact turnout and results from the ballot top down?

Melita Easters: 18:44

I believe we will have record setting turnout. On both sides of the aisle. I believe that Stacey Abrams will have a dramatic impact on bringing new voters into the political playing field, which will help everyone but I also believe that it's not just trickle down when it comes to votes. It can also be trickle up because a grassroots candidate who knocks every door in her neighborhood for a school board seat might do more to encourage voter turnout in her community than the TV ads everybody punches mute on the remote when they come on the screen.

Meral Clarke: 19:28

I think you're right. And that's a wonderful way to get folks involved in the process. And of course, serving your community. There's no higher calling. So let's talk about grassroots organizing. How does that work for you and your

Melita Easters: 19:41

WIN List does not specifically do grassroots group? organizing. We support the organizing that the candidates do. But we also require our WIN Leadership Academy class members to spend 30 hours during the course of the year on a campaign, but we let them plug into the campaign, rather than WIN list trying to organize people on a grassroots level. What I like to say is that the progressive highway is very wide and has many lanes. And we stick to our lane, which is recruiting, training, encouraging, supporting, endorsing, electing and re electing women, we do not get out of that lane, because there are many other groups in other lanes. And thinking of the progressive highway as a group of lanes all, moving in the same direction is a great way for everybody to stay on target with their vision and their mission and let everybody do what they do best.

Meral Clarke: 20:52

That's fantastic. And I assume it's mostly progressive women that you're trying to get elected, or am I incorrect in that assumption?

Melita Easters: 20:59

We only endorse pro choice Democratic women who show us they have great promise as future leaders.

Meral Clarke: 21:11

That's great. I'm very happy to hear that and especially now and since you brought it up, Roe v. Wade, really is in tremendous danger. Yes, right now, with the conservative majority Supreme Court, what are your thoughts on how that's going to shake out in the coming months? We need to codify Roe v Wade. And of course, that's going to

Melita Easters: 21:27

Many of the lawyers I've talked to are very concerned that Roe v Wade, may very well be overturned, and then decisions about abortion and reproductive freedom will go back to the states as they were before Roe v. Wade. And make no mistake about it. Abortion is not the only thing on the chopping block in vitro fertilization. And those infertility treatments that many couples use to be able to have a child and birth control will also be on the radar screen. It be an uphill battle. Oh cool in our current Senate, and with is ironic that most of the rest of the world is loosening those restrictions, while America is tightening them. We're going backwards, we are definitely going backwards. But we have to remember that 481, Georgia's most recent abortion bans passed by the slimmest of margins only two votes as I recall in the house. And so Georgia at one time I had a chart, but then my interns went back to college. Georgia had the slimmest margin of all the bills that had been passed in the past 18 months at that time, I just haven't tracked the rest of them, but it only passed by very slim margin. So we will have a true fight. So women who care about choice need to make that their lens for voting on any new candidates in legislative seats in 2022. Because it very well may become an issue that is decided on a state by state basis until and unless Congress has the backbone to pass a nationwide law. whatever happens in the house. And I also want to mention that clinics like Planned Parenthood and their affiliates, it's not just abortion care that they provide its mammograms and pap smears, and absolutely reproductive health and everything that matters to women throughout their lives. So it is critical that we ensure that Roe v Wade is codified and I sincerely hope that's something that's going to happen soon. But that's a whole nother conversation that we'll definitely have. I always like the joke that if men could get pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

Meral Clarke: 24:07

Yes, thank you for saying that. That's one of my favorite quotes. And it's so true. It's so true. Unfortunately, Republican men are consistently trying to tamp down women's and other person's civil rights. So we have to fight that whenever we can. So what are your predictions for the year? Can you elaborate about Georgia's importance on the national stage and our impact that will reverberate across the nation as it has for the past several years? Were kind of a lightning rod. I would say at this moment.

Melita Easters: 24:39

We are absolutely a lightning rod and the center of attention and part of that has to do with the fact that Georgia is the next state to become a majority minority state. Some say that we're very close to already being there, even though the Census figures don't bear that out. But when you think about it, Georgia is a state where the melting pot is more vividly demonstrated than in many other states, particularly when you think about racism. Everybody thinks the West Coast is so liberal and ahead of us, but actually, there aren't that many Black people on the West Coast. The black population in California is 6%. In Washington State, it's 5%. In Oregon, it's 4%. Actually, in Forsyth County, Georgia, there is a higher percentage of AAPI population. Percentage now not number, there's a higher percentage of AAPI residents then in LA County, California,

Meral Clarke: 25:57

Right. I just want to mention for our listeners that that acronym AAPI stands for Asian American Pacific Islanders, is that correct? Yes, yes. So go ahead. I'm sorry.

Melita Easters: 26:07

So Georgia really is a melting pot. And other states are looking at Georgia to see how we get along. And what happens in Georgia is the cutting edge for what may happen in other states as they too become majority minority states.

Meral Clarke: 26:31

Just for our listeners, it means minorities will be in the majority, correct?

Melita Easters: 26:36

Yes, yes, the combination of all people of color becomes greater than 50%. And white, Caucasian is less than 50%.

Meral Clarke: 26:49

Okay. And that's important, right?

Melita Easters: 26:51

Well, it's important because it is an indicator of when and how Republicans might lose control in the state. Not every minority group is monolithic. Of course, not all of any one group votes the same way. But it is the majority minority states, where there are more likely to be democratically controlled governments and legislatures.

Meral Clarke: 27:21

which is something that we can all hope will happen sooner rather than later. So what are your predictions? What do you see happening with the midterm and general elections?

Melita Easters: 27:31

All of us are going to be very, very tired of political commercials, we will all be punching the mute button like crazy. before November, I think it's very hard to predict who will win what this early in the game. There are some who say that more than a billion dollars will be spent on TV advertising in Georgia. So we're all going to be punching the mute button being driven crazy by TV ads, we're all going to be tired of getting slick campaign mailings, and all of us are going to be asked to write handwritten postcards because those actually don't get tossed in the trash as quickly or as often as the slick paid mail pieces. And people will be coming into Georgia from all over the country to work in campaigns to canvass door to door a lot of what will happen over the campaign season will also be impacted by what happens with COVID. And whether people feel comfortable continuing to canvass door to door that had a dramatic impact on the 2020 election cycle. And as variants continue to mutate and emerge, we will be monitoring those of us who work in campaigns, we'll be monitoring what can safely be done.

Meral Clarke: 29:01

Fantastic. And it's so critical that we do so finally, can you give us your website addressing if someone wants to get a hold of you personally, or anyone with the GA WIN List? Can you give us that information, please?

Melita Easters: 29:14

Yes, www.gawinliat.com and I am Melita Easter's so it's Easter Sunday with an S on it. melita@gawinlist.com

Meral Clarke: 29:35

Terrific. And finally, and I ask all of my guests this question. Tell us a fun fact about yourself something not related to the GA WIN List or politics or your work just something really interesting and unique about Melita.

Melita Easters: 29:50

My name means little honey. And I am named for my Father's World War II pen pal. He never met her, but he liked the name. And since they had never met, my mother was fine with that being the name for their firstborn child.

Meral Clarke: 30:10

Wow. And where does the name come from? What is the basis?

Melita Easters: 30:14

Actually, it is the name the island of Malta, in old translations of the Bible, and certain streets on the island of Malta, are spelled just like my name m e l i t a.

Meral Clarke: 30:27

I did not know that. I just learned something new

Melita Easters: 30:30

And certain old translations of the Bible because the Apostle Paul visited the island of Malta, spell the island M E L I T A, rather than Malta.

Meral Clarke: 30:40

That is fascinating. Little Honey, how sweet. That's a great name. Well, thank you Melita for joining us today and sharing more about your critical work to support Democratic women and maintain our democracy. 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 join us next time when we interview Georgia State Representative Matthew Wilson, Democratic candidate for Georgia insurance commissioner. To learn more about us and the work that we're doing, visit us online at FanninCountyGeorgiaDemocratics.com Share the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family and be sure to subscribe and follow. If you enjoy our podcasts become a founding patron and friend of the show at NorthGeorgiaBluePodcast.com/patron so we can continue getting into more good trouble.