North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble

Matthew Wilson, GA State Representative & Candidate for Insurance Commissioner

January 19, 2022 Fannin Co. GA Democratic Party Season 2 Episode 3
North GA Blue: Getting into Good Trouble
Matthew Wilson, GA State Representative & Candidate for Insurance Commissioner
Show Notes Transcript

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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Meral Clarke:

Hello and welcome back to the North Georgia Blue Podcast produced and distributed by the Fannin County, Georgia Democratic Party. I'm your host Meral Clarke and we're getting into some good trouble today with our special guest, Matthew Wilson, Georgia State Representative for the 80th congressional district running to be Georgia's next insurance commissioner. Welcome to the show, Matthew. We're thrilled to have you with us today.

Matthew Wilson:

Thanks, Meral. It's a pleasure to be with y'all.

Meral Clarke:

Terrific. Democratic state representative Matthew Wilson is a consumer rights champion and outspoken advocate for working Georgians. He was first elected to the State House in 2018, beating a Republican incumbent in a race that earned him an endorsement from former President Barack Obama. Matthew represents DeKalb and Fulton counties in the state house where he has led the fight for progressive priorities to end partisan gerrymandering, reform ethics and government, stem the rise of gun violence, and ban the harmful practice of conversion therapy. Matthew was born and raised in Griffin, the product of a working class family. His dad was physically disabled when Matthew and his sister were just in kindergarten. His mom worked night shifts at the local hospital to provide for their family. And because of this experience, Matthew understands the critical role insurance plays when families are at their most vulnerable. Matthew is a double dog having graduated from UGA with his undergraduate and law degrees. Before law school, Matthew taught sixth grade math and science in a low income school. Now he runs his own personal injury law practice in Brookhaven where he is recognized as one of Georgia's top trial lawyers under 40. Matthew recently married his husband, Robert, and congratulations on wedded bliss. And thank you for all you do. So let's jump right in. Let's chat. First of all about the historic nature of your candidacy. Can you elaborate on why it is so historic and why this race is so vital?

Matthew Wilson:

Yeah, well, I've really enjoyed and it's been a distinct privilege to serve in the state house for the last two terms three years now. And I'm really proud of the work that we have done in the state house, but I am running for insurance commissioner in 2022. Because I think 2022 Look, we have a tremendous opportunity here in Georgia. We've got all of as your listeners are well aware, all of the statewide positions will be on the ballot from Governor all the way down. An insurance commissioner is one of them. And when we think about electing a new slate of state leaders who can really pull Georgia in the right direction, and really address the needs of so many Georgia families that are hurting right now, insurance commissioner is a critical component to that and is really at the heart of a lot of the policy changes that we're going to need to implement come 2023. So I'm running because I want to put my experience to work for the state. I've learned a lot serving in the State House, both in my legislative career and in my legal career as a trial lawyer, a lot about how insurance is administered here in Georgia and a lot of good policies that we can put in place that affect Georgia families. I am proud to be one of only seven openly LGBTQ legislators in the Georgia General Assembly right now. And looking forward to Georgia electing its first openly LGBTQ statewide official. The great thing about this historic milestone is that it's not just a milestone for our state here in Georgia. But when Georgia elects our first openly LGBTQ statewide constitutional officer this year, it'll be the first in the South as well. So it's really national history that we're making. And we have a lot of opportunities and a lot of historic milestones up and down the ballot and electing Georgia's first openly LGBTQ constitutional officer, certainly one of them. I'm proud to be representing Georgia's LGBTQ community.

Meral Clarke:

That's fantastic. Thank you so much. So tell us more about the Georgia insurance commissioner's responsibilities and tasks and tell us why our current Republican commissioner is woefully lacking in his capacity to lead.

Matthew Wilson:

So Georgia's insurance commissioner is obviously a down ballot and low profile position, but in a lot of ways, and I might ruffle some feathers with some of your previous guests when I say this, but in a lot of ways, it is one of the most powerful statewide positions in Georgia other than governor, it truly is. When you look at the responsibilities and the power that the insurance commissioner has, it's unlike any of the other statewide positions, for example, it's the only position that has executive legislative and judicial authority, given it by the Constitution and the laws of the state. And part of that is because this position actually used to be a State Comptroller General. It was designed to be a consumer watchdog, someone who's looking out for the taxpayers money and making sure that Georgians are getting a fair deal right. Over time, in the 1950s, the position was changed to insurance commissioner, but the position retained all of that Comptroller General authority. And so the insurance commissioner still has broad regulatory authority over all forms of insurance that are sold in the State of Georgia. So think about this, your auto insurance, your health insurance, your property insurance, maybe you have a small business, your business insurance, life insurance, any form of insurance that is sold in this state, in order for that company to sell the policy in Georgia, the company has to obtain a license from the insurance commissioner. And so that gives that commissioner, whoever sits in that seat, very broad power and authority to place restrictions of those licenses and renewal of those licenses. The commissioner also has investigative and audit authority over those insurance companies. So I'm a trial lawyer by profession, I represent clients who were injured in accidents, no fault of their own, mostly car accidents, slip and fall type type accident sometimes, but my clients come to me they have a lot of injuries, medical bills, so we're dealing with health insurance companies, if they were in a car accident, we're dealing with auto insurance companies. One of the things that we have seen through COVID and through the pandemic has been that insurance companies have refused to settle claims that have been made, obvious claims that are due to be paid out. There's no argument, no dispute about liability, for example, but they know that they can string the claimant along for a year or to force them to file a lawsuit and get into court. And then they'll finally pay out that serves nobody's interest. And a strong insurance commissioner has the authority to tell that insurance company hey, let's open up your book. Show me your claims, how you're handling those claims, how often you're resolving those claims. And if the insurance commissioner feels that Georgians are not being properly served or appropriately served by those practices can apply pressure to that company to improve its practices so that Georgians are better served. And that's what the position is designed to be give this person broad powers so that Georgians consumers can ultimately ensure that they're being served.

Meral Clarke:

That's terrific. What is the current Commissioner doing or not doing that you take issue with?

Matthew Wilson:

We have been through quite a twisted tale over the last 25 years to be honest with you I've so I've told you. The office was designed to be a consumer watchdog, someone looking out for us and our pocketbooks. Unfortunately, for 25 years, we've had Republican control of this office. We've had commissioner after commissioner after commissioner now after commissioner who have literally been bought and paid for by big insurance companies. And that's not an exaggeration. In 2018, when I was first elected to the State House, Jim Beck was elected the insurance commissioner that year, he only served for a matter of weeks. He was sworn in, in 2019. And less than, you know, it was about six or eight weeks after he was sworn in. He was indicted on 30 something counts of fraud and embezzlement. He was accused of and ultimately convicted of embezzling two and a half million dollars into his campaign for insurance commissioner.

Meral Clarke:

Oh, I remember that well.

Matthew Wilson:

Stealing it from an insurance company that he was quasi state run insurance company that he was running at the time. So you know, and he was recently several months ago, convicted sentenced to prison. He's serving in prison right now as we record this podcast. But the truth is that the corruption in this office goes back way farther than Jim Beck. Before him, you had Ralph Hudgens who nearly bankrupted the Department of Insurance it during the great recession when Georgia was really struggling with revenue and making drastic cuts to our education system that we still haven't recovered from. Our state still hasn't recovered from but during that time Commissioner Ralph Hudgens was giving his senior leadership team bonuses and pay increases that ultimately they did not have the money in the insurance budget to pay for. And when the legislature pointed that out to the commissioner, he had to lay off and furlough hundreds of state employees to make up the difference. Before him, the commissioner was John Oxendine. And if anyone has lived in Georgia, as long as I have, you could probably tell me stories about John Oxendine's corruption, which is just legendary from his long tenure at the insurance department. And then his failed run for governor. So this is an office that because of the power that comes along with it, unfortunately has a story of decades of Republican corruption. The current commissioner is John King, he was appointed by Governor Kemp in 2019, when Jim Beck was indicted and suspended from the office. After Jim Beck was convicted, John King under Georgia law became the permanent insurance commissioner, and so is serving out that term. He is running for election on the Republican side, this will be his first election. He's new to elected politics. And I have seen Commissioner King work now for two years. I serve on the house insurance committee, we work very closely with the commissioner and his staff on what their priorities are. Unfortunately, you know, I've been disappointed in Commissioner King's service because he really doesn't have any priorities to speak of. And so look, I'm not running against anybody. That's not why I'm running. I'm running because we need someone in this office who understands the purpose of why it was created, and has the experience and a proven track record to be able to run a competitive campaign get elected, and then have the experience and knowledge to be able to implement policies that can rein in some of these practices that these insurance companies are allowed to get away with.

Meral Clarke:

And that sounds extremely reasonable. So can we address Medicaid expansion? This is an issue that is so important to so many Georgians, and it's absolutely crucial. Tell us why it matters. And I've read that there are up to possibly a million is that correct? Uninsured Georgians, that's a lot of people and they're dying due to lack of access to healthcare, especially in rural areas, and the GOP doesn't care or at least they seem not to care. So what are your thoughts on why Medicaid expansion is so crucial?

Matthew Wilson:

Let me give you an astounding statistic. Of all the states in the country, if you look at the uninsured population, we have the third highest number of people uninsured in our state. And you might say, well, you know, that's really unfortunate for those individuals and their families. But the truth is, it affects all of us. Aside from it just being a moral obligation that many of us feel to ensure that we can give health care access to our neighbors and our loved ones and people we live with and work with. This is also an economic issue, because it affects our state's economy. It prevents our state's economy from thriving, it hobbles our workforce. And for all the rest of us who do have health insurance, we pay higher premiums because our state has such a high uninsured population, it has to be paid for somehow. And the truth is the studies show that we make up the difference in our premiums that we pay and in our tax dollars that we pay. So this is both a moral and economic imperative for our state. Medicaid expansion is way past its time here in Georgia, we know we have a huge population of uninsured Georgians. So the question becomes how do we get health insurance to those people. And the quickest, easiest, most efficient way to do that is to fully expand Medicaid. And it's why I've been going all over the state all summer and fall of last year calling on Governor Kemp to fully expand Medicaid, urging him to include it in the special session that we had last November, and I continue to call on him to do that. We can fully expand Medicaid overnight and give half a million Georgians access to health care. And it's not just about emergency treatment. That's what most people think of when we talk about the uninsured population. Anyone in Georgia can get emergency treatment. It's the law. You can go to an emergency room if you have an emergency and get medical care. But the issue for the uninsured population is that because they don't have insurance, health insurance, they lack that regular preventative ongoing care that all the rest of us take advantage of and know that it's necessary and it prevents the emergency if you're able to have ongoing care. So this is one of my top priorities running. And of course, you know, we've seen the hard work of senators, Warnock and Ossoff to get this federal workaround program and Congress to say, okay, look, these 12 states, Georgia included that have not fully expanded Medicaid, we're not going to wait on you any longer and do this at the federal level. And I'm so grateful for the hard work that they have done. And as we record this, I hope that gets across the finish line and get signed into law. But even if it does, we still have to fully expand Medicaid at the state level. Because the truth is, the work that they have been able to do with President Biden is a temporary fix. It is only for four years, and then it expires, and who knows who will control Congress four years from now, who knows what the political winds will be in Washington, DC. We know though, in Georgia, that we have to get this done now. And the truth is, we've already paid for it too. Don't forget that. We send our federal tax money up to DC, they're offering to send a bunch of it back to us to cover this program and fully fund it and not just fully fund it, they've added icing on top of the cake. Now aside from just fully funding it Georgia will actually profit $700 million dollars the first year and create create 64,000 new jobs in Georgia. So we have to do this. And we need an insurance commissioner who will spend every single day of his term calling upon the governor and the legislature and working with them to get this done.

Meral Clarke:

That's quite a bit of revenue. And you know, it's counter intuitive to think that Republicans don't want that revenue coming into the state coffers. But apparently they don't, they'd rather just tow the far right line. And I'd also like to mention that it's really hurting. Lack of Medicaid expansion is also putting a huge strain on rural hospitals, and just hospitals everywhere, both urban and rural as well.

Matthew Wilson:

I'm glad you mentioned that Meral, because that's the other, you know, we talked about the impact on the state economy. And that's the other big thing that we've seen. And anyone who has listened to this conversation, at any point over the last decade is very familiar with this, we've had over a dozen hospitals in rural Georgia shut down because they cannot afford to operate. When you have a hospital in rural Georgia that is serving a large population of uninsured individuals, that means that that that hospital is very likely never to be repaid for the treatment that they administered that no one's picking up the bill. Because they're not a Medicaid. They're not on Medicare, they don't have a private insurer. And so no one is picking up the bill for that. And hospitals are required by law to administer healthcare to whoever walks in the door. And then they have to worry about the payment afterwards. But the problem is if a significant number of the people you're serving, you're never reimbursed for then at some point, you can't afford to keep your doors open. We've lost 12 rural hospitals over the last decade, two under Governor Kemp. Since he has been sworn into office, two hospitals in Georgia and Cuthbert and Commerce have shut their doors because they can't afford to operate and he refuses to expand Medicaid.

Meral Clarke:

Astounding.

Matthew Wilson:

I don't understand it.

Meral Clarke:

I don't either. And I will never be able to wrap my mind around it. Another question I wanted to ask you as part of the LGBTQ plus community, can we talk about your bill to ban conversion therapy? And please elaborate on why we need to get rid of it. It's common sense to me that these bills, you know, for conversion therapy that support conversion therapy make no sense and Canada as a country just actually banned conversion therapy, which kudos to them for doing that. So what are your thoughts on that?

Matthew Wilson:

We have got to ban conversion therapy here in Georgia. Believe it or not, and a lot of people when I talk about this in my work on this issue, a lot of people don't realize that it's still legal right now, this very day in Georgia, for medical professionals who are given their license to practice medicine by the State of Georgia are still legally able to practice conversion therapy. It's It's horrific. And you know, when I talk about policy, often there are a lot of overlapping reasons for the policy that we're advocating for. And this obviously for me is a very moral issue because although I was fortunate never to be exposed to conversion therapy. A lot of my friends who grew up here in the south with me, were exposed to conversion therapy and are still dealing with the after effects and are still going through therapy for that today as adults. And when we talk about the LGBTQ community, in particular transgender youth, we have incredibly high suicide rates among these populations. When we talk about transgender youth 40% of all transgender people have attempted suicide at some point in their lives, the studies show. And so this is about saving lives. This was one of my first priorities. When I got elected in 2018. I introduced the bill the first time, then, I was joined by a coalition of the mental health professional community here in Georgia. And at the national level, every mental health professional association in this state has signed on in support of this bill, we're talking about the psychologist, a psychiatrist, talking about the Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, have all in unison, said this must be banned in the state, because it is not based in science, it is not medicine, and it does more harm than good. And because Georgia issues the medical license to the physician, these professional associations have called on the state to say we need you to pass a law saying that if you practice conversion therapy, you are subject to license revocation. And so that's what this bill is about. And it was first introduced in 2018. We had a historic public hearing on it in 2019, and had testimony by survivors and mental health professionals, a very gut wrenching hearing, but a lot of positive comments from the committee members. We came back in 2020, with the expectation that we would get a vote in that committee and be able to move this bill to the House floor, unfortunately that year, and we'll see about 2022, we've seen a surge in anti LGBTQ legislation. And that has really prevented us from being able to move forward on this issue. But I continue pounding the table and urging all my colleagues to take a stand against conversion therapy.

Meral Clarke:

Well, thank you for fighting the good fight. Those are alarming stats about the number of suicides among trans kids. And it's just astounding to me that in this day and age, in the 21st century, that we're still fighting these right wing perceptions that are so inherently evil. And I will use that word evil, as far as I'm concerned. How do you expect the legislative session to shake out this year? Any predictions?

Matthew Wilson:

Unfortunately, I think it's gonna be a very rocky road. We know we heard and we're seeing it now. A lot of hate filled legislation that's coming out the anti LGBTQ stuff, the legislation to ban books, because God forbid we give our kids an education.

Meral Clarke:

What century are we in? I mean, that's insane.

Matthew Wilson:

It is and still anti democratic legislation, meant to make it harder to vote, easier to overturn election, easier to oust local board of registrar's members, board of election members so that people can reverse the outcomes of our democratic process. All of this stuff is unfortunately raging in the legislature. And in a lot of ways, you know, I do feel like the state legislature since the 2020 election has really become the frontline of this fight we are waging right now for democracy, all of these bills, you look at it not just in Georgia, but across the country. But in particular here in Georgia, of course, we felt it, more so than others. But that's why I'm so proud to be in the State House right now and be able to join my colleagues in fighting against this horrible, horrible stuff.

Meral Clarke:

Not to mention lack of women's civil rights, and of course, the abortion issue. What are your thoughts on that with the Supreme Court are refusing to stop Texas's ban on abortion? They're allowing abortion clinics to sue and litigation to go forth through the courts, but they're the highest court in the land and they're refusing to uphold Roe v. Wade. As an attorney what are your thoughts on that? And what do you think the chances are that Congress will in I worry about this will codify Roe v. Wade?

Matthew Wilson:

You know, I have to say that what I have seen from the Supreme Court recently on this, it's just been abhorrent. We have quite a number of justices who have just relinquished their duty to the Constitution and to the rule of law, all for political partisanship, and to push forward their political agenda. It's very sad. But to me, it just re emphasizes the need for us to recommit at the local level at the state legislative level, at the statewide level here 2022. In Georgia, we have an opportunity to put the right people in the right chairs that can make the decisions in a lot of ways to to blunt some of these things. You know the other thing of course, the Supreme Court has a very big microphone from which issues, case law, which becomes a law of the land. But state legislatures and state governors can work around that and can change the law. And ultimately, everything that comes before the Supreme Court started in the state legislature somewhere or was on a governor's desk. Someone didn't like it and they filed a lawsuit and pushed it all the way to the Supreme Court. So it is just vitally important that we not lose focus amid all of the bad news that we're seeing. And there's a lot of bad news, but we can't lose sight of the goal. And that is making sure that Georgia's leadership reflects the people who live here. This is a blue state. And we know North Georgia is blue. We know the whole state is blue. We know the whole state is blue, we need our leadership to reflect that. So that we can undo a lot of this harmful legislation that has been put in place over the last several years, as the GOP is experiencing its last gasps of statewide power.

Meral Clarke:

Oh, sure. This is why they keep passing these restrictive laws violating our civil rights on so many levels, because they can't win, right? Unless they make it harder for people to vote. And that's something we have to keep fighting. What are your thoughts on red states having higher COVID-19 rates because their Republican legislators and governors are not pushing vaccines, which are only stand really against COVID? And now all the variants that are coming out? What are your thoughts on how Georgia can do better and why we should do better? Especially as insurance commissioner?

Matthew Wilson:

Well, I think the best thing that we can do is elect Stacey Abrams Governor.

Meral Clarke:

I'm with you on that one. I'm ready. I am so ready. And her candidacy is also an historical Absolutely, she would become the first female black governor in the country, which would be quite the precedent. And I believe she will help all of you, you know, on the ballot from the top down. So how do you feel about working with Stacey?

Matthew Wilson:

I'm so excited, I did not have the pleasure of working with her in the legislature. She was gone by the time I was elected. But a lot of the people that I serve with did work with her have incredible amount of respect and admiration for her what she's doing for our state for our country, and for all of us. And I'm just so excited about all of the Democratic candidates that we have. Being on the ballot with Senator Warnock as well is so incredibly humbling and inspiring. We started this talking about COVID. And the impact of COVID in red states. And this is one of my huge, huge disappointment and Governor Kemp. When you are governor, your responsibility is to every Georgian, not to a political party, but to every single Georgian. Unfortunately, under his watch, he has allowed tens of 1000s of our fellow Georgians to die from COVID and show a complete disrespect for their lives and for the rest of us. He's allowed these two hospitals to be shut down because he refuses to expand Medicaid. Sadly, I think he's shown us that he doesn't care very much about our lives. I think all he cares about is that magazine that keeps saying we're the number one state to do business, but what good is that when there's no one left here to conduct any business?

Meral Clarke:

That is the perfect way to position that statement. Because that's exactly what Republicans are doing. So a lesser known responsibility for the Georgia Insurance Commission Office is the oversight and regular inspection of elevators in Georgia. Is the current Commissioner performing this task? And if not, why not? And please tell us about the tragic elevator accident that took a young person's life recently. I know this is something near and dear to your heart.

Matthew Wilson:

The insurance commissioner is also the safety fire commissioner in Georgia. And that means they're in charge of the fire regulations. Part of that includes inspecting all elevators in the state and all amusement park rides in the state. This is not a responsibility that we hear a lot about or think a lot about. But the next time you are in an elevator, anywhere in the state, take a moment and look at the little framed business card that's hanging on one of the walls by the door and you'll see the inspection certificate is issued by Georgia's insurance commissioner and it has his name printed nice and big right there. Part of these duties require the commissioner's office to make sure that these elevators had been inspected regularly. Before two years ago. It meant that elevators were inspected every six months. But one of the things that Commissioner King did early in his tenure was come to the legislature and ask us actually to push that back to a full year. So that elevators are only required to be inspected once a year. We did that. And we were told that the reason why they asked us for that is because they did not have enough people to inspect all the elevators. But they weren't worried about safety issues. This wasn't going to create a safety issue, because most of the elevators are newer, and newer buildings. And they're just made a lot safer than older elevators, but that this would free up resources and allow the department to focus on those elevators that hadn't been inspected for many years. Well, it wasn't long after we passed that bill, and it was signed into law by Governor Kemp that we had this horrible tragic accident in Atlanta, there was an 18 year old student who was in a football prep academy, and was living in student housing just behind the Atlanta Medical Center. This was an older building, that the elevators were in disrepair, and one of the elevators he was in one day after practice with some of his teammates failed, actually was in freefall. And it stopped in between two floors. He tried to escape and unfortunately was crushed by the elevator. It was It was horrible, a horrible, horrible incident. But what made it even worse was that shortly after that, all the students came forward to the news media that was reporting on the accident. And they said, we told people about this elevator that it wasn't safe, that we had been on it before when it got caught between floors or didn't feel right. And you know, all you have to do is look at the inspection certificate. It hasn't been inspected for two years. When the insurance commissioner was asked about that Commissioner King said, Well, it's the property owners fault, because he didn't call and schedule an appointment for one of our inspectors to come out and inspect it. You know, I can understand that the responsibility first lies with the property owner to schedule an appointment. But the law says the elevator has to be inspected every year. And two years go by and you don't get a phone call from that property owner. And you know, the elevator exists. It's on your list because you inspected it two years ago. At what point does the department bear responsibility for not following up on that. And, you know, unfortunately, I think that's something that Commissioner King is going to have to live with. We have got to get someone in that office, who cares about people over profits, and will make sure that the policies in the state align to protect and look out for people.

Meral Clarke:

That is simply astounding to me. But of course, Republicans, at least the far right wing Republicans that we seem to have in Georgia would not have any regulations at all if they had their preference or a few to none. So we know that this is a safety issue. It's a critical safety issue. And I'm glad that you're looking into that. So Matthew, I could talk to you all day. Unfortunately, we're running low on time. Can you give us your website address if one of our listeners wants to donate to your campaign or volunteer for you or just get more information about you? Where would you send them?

Matthew Wilson:

MatthewForGoergia.com and it's all spelled out? M-A-T-T-H-E-W-F-O-R-G-E-O-R-G-I-A

Meral Clarke:

Okay, terrific. And finally, and I ask all my guests this question, which I'm sure you're familiar with, since you're an avid listener, and thank you for that. Tell us a fun fact about yourself something not related to politics or your candidacy or your state housework. Something fun just about Matthew.

Matthew Wilson:

So Meral, I put a lot of thought into this, because I know you ask all your guests this. And I think one thing that a lot of your guests may not know about me, if you didn't know me before, is that I have a twin sister, who a lot of people think is the cooler twin because she, she is a Secret Service Officer at the White House in DC.

Meral Clarke:

Wow. That's impressive. And I also wanted to ask you about an incident that happened recently, right after your wedding to your husband, Robert, with a rainbow wedding cake down at the state capitol. Can you talk about that?

Matthew Wilson:

We've been dating for four years and got married in November of last year. And when we set the wedding day, we did not intend for it to be smack dab in the middle of the special redistricting session. But sure enough, that's what happened. So we got married on a Friday evening, and we took a weekend in North Georgia. We were in Santee for an abbreviated honeymoon and then I went back to the Capitol following Tuesday, and we do celebrate each other's personal milestones in the house. And so we had some wedding cake to share with my house colleagues. We had a rainbow wedding cake and my wedding so I brought rainbow cakes on that Tuesday and serve my house colleagues, and you know, it was quite a treat to see everybody with the rainbow cakes. Even Republicans were enjoying the rainbow cake. I did have a few who were a bit hesitant I saw to pick up the cake and eat it. I'm not sure if they thought it would turn them gay or what. I did tell one or two that not to worry. Just just eat the red part and you'll be okay.

Meral Clarke:

That's hilarious. Is that what they did? Republicans are so predictable. Well, that's a great story. And thank you, Matthew, for joining us today and sharing more about your critical work to support democratic ideals, goals 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 Debbie Peppers, Chair of the Whitfield County Democratic Party. To learn more about us and the work that we're doing, visit us online at FanninCountyGeorgiaDemocrats.com all spelled out. Share the North Georgia Blue Podcast with your friends and family be sure to subscribe and follow and if you enjoy our podcast consider becoming a founding patron and friend of the show at NorthGeorgiaBluePodcast.com/patron so we can continue getting into more good trouble.