Nathan Mathis (born April 18, 1943) is an American farmer and politician. He served twelve years in the
Alabama House of Representatives, and has made several unsuccessful runs for office since. Mathis garnered national attention in 2017 when he criticized Senate candidate
Roy Moore
Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fr ...
for his past comments on homosexuality and spoke in support of his daughter, who had killed herself after being outed as a lesbian.
Biography
Mathis was born in
Midland City, Alabama
Midland City is a town in Dale County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 U.S. Census the population was 2,344. It incorporated in 1890. It is part of the Ozark Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
2013 hostage standoff
On January 29, 2013 ...
and graduated from
Slocomb High School. He served as chair of the
Houston County Commission from 1974 until 1978, and in 1982 ran for the Alabama House of Representatives as a
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
, serving until his defeat in 1994.
Mathis attempted a comeback to the House in 1998; this effort proved unsuccessful. In 2002, he ran for
Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries
The Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries (ADAI) is an independent agency of the government of Alabama first created by an Act of the State Legislature on February 23, 1883. The Department is responsible for serving farmers and consum ...
but lost the Democratic primary.
In June 2005, Mathis declared his intent to run for
Governor of Alabama in
2006 as an independent. If elected, Mathis said he would build 15 casinos in Alabama in order to help fund the state.
He ultimately entered the Democratic primary, but lost to
Lucy Baxley.
In 2010, Mathis switched parties and became a
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
. He ran that same year for
Alabama Senate
The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...
but lost the Republican primary. In 2012, he ran as a Republican for Houston County Commission. In 2014, Mathis reverted to the Democratic Party and announced his intent to run for the Alabama Senate, but his candidacy was blocked by the
Alabama Democratic Party
The Alabama Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Alabama. It is chaired by Randy Kelley.
The Alabama Democratic Party was once one of the most successful political organizations in the United States. Even a ...
due to his support of Republican candidates within the four years prior to the election.
In 2016, Mathis was the Democratic nominee for
Alabama's 2nd congressional district
Alabama's 2nd congressional district is a United States congressional district in Alabama, which elects a representative to the United States House of Representatives. It includes most of the Montgomery metropolitan area, and stretches into t ...
against incumbent Republican
Martha Roby
Martha Kehres Roby ( ; née Dubina; born July 26, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she defeated the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representati ...
. He lost the election by 8 percentage points.
Mathis ran as a Democrat for Alabama's 2nd congressional district in 2020. He lost the primary election.
Personal life
Mathis and his wife, Sue, had 2 children; both of whom are deceased. His son, Joey, died of a prescription painkiller overdose in 2004;
[ his daughter, Patti Sue, committed suicide in 1995. Mathis resides in Wicksburg, Alabama, where he operates a peanut farm.
Mathis attracted considerable attention in 2017, during the special election campaign for the U.S. Senate. He protested the candidacy of ]Roy Moore
Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fr ...
and particularly homophobic remarks made by Moore. His daughter was a lesbian, and had come out to a friend who later informed Mathis. Mathis did not take the news well, and his daughter committed suicide years later. He expressed regret, saying in a 2012 letter, "sometime after Patti died, I attended church and a visiting preacher was preaching. About 10 minutes into the sermon, he bashed gays the rest of the way. As soon as the invitation song was given, I went out the door with one of the worst headaches I had ever had. I was ashamed of myself for sitting there and not defending Patti. I have not been much since."
Buzzfeed News did a follow up to his story about a year after the Roy Moore video went viral & hi
appearance
on the The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Ellen DeGeneres Show. This showed his continuing advocacy for the LGBTQ community by attending Rocket City Pride and being a guest speaker a
Unlimited Ministries of Alabama
Electoral history
;Alabama House District 73 Democratic Primary, 1982
* Nathan Mathis – 4,395 (39.1%)
* Gene Daniels – 4,332 (38.6%)
* Jack Smith – 2,498 (22.3%)
;Alabama House District 73 Democratic Primary Runoff, 1982
* Nathan Mathis – 6,791 (61.4%)
* Gene Daniels – 4,269 (38.6%)
;Alabama House District 73 Election, 1982
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 6,513 (100%)
;Alabama House District 87 Election, 1983
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 2,960 (77.7%)
* Bill Whitestone (R) – 851 (22.3%)
;Alabama House District 87 Election, 1986
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 8,461 (72.4%)
* Russ Rothrock (R) – 3,2298 (27.6%)
;Alabama House District 87 Democratic Primary, 1990
* Nathan Mathis – 5,074 (62.2%)
* Charles Flippo – 2,164 (26.5%)
* Pat Whigpen – 926 (11.3%)
;Alabama House District 87 Election, 1990
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 7,569 (57.6%)
* Eric Johnson (R) – 5,573 (42.4%)
;Alabama House District 87 Election, 1994
* Riley Seibenhener (R) – 7,974 (65.1%)
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 4,277 (34.9%)
;Alabama House District 87 Democratic Primary, 1998
* Nathan Mathis – 1,700 (47.2%)
* Wynnton Melton – 1,376 (38.2%)
* Larry Shoupe – 525 (14.6%)
;Alabama House District 87 Democratic Primary Runoff, 1998
* Nathan Mathis – 1,195 (54.8%)
* Wynnton Melton – 984 (45.2%)
;Alabama House District 87 election, 1998
* Riley Seibenhener (R) – 7,810 (58.9%)
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 5,434 (41.0%)
;Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industry Democratic Primary, 2002
* Ron Sparks (politician), Ron Sparks – 183,097 (51.3%)
* Nathan Mathis – 120,861 (33.4%)
* Jacky R. Warhurst – 52,670 (14.8%)
;Alabama gubernatorial Democratic Primary, 2006
* Lucy Baxley – 279,165 (59.8%)
* Don Siegelman – 170,016 (36.4%)
* Joe Copeland – 4,141 (0.9%)
* Nathan Mathis – 4,000 (0.9%)
* Katherine Mack – 3,392 (0.7%)
* James Potts – 3,333 (0.7%)
* Harry Lyons – 2,490 (0.5%)
;Alabama Senate District 29 Republican Primary, 2010
* George Flowers – 12,783 (64.1%)
* Nathan Mathis – 7,155 (35.9%)
;Alabama's 2nd Congressional District Election, 2016
* Martha Roby
Martha Kehres Roby ( ; née Dubina; born July 26, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, she defeated the incumbent Democratic U.S. Representati ...
(R) – 134,886 (48.8%)
* Nathan Mathis (D) – 112,089 (40.5%)
* Rebecca Gerritson (I) – 25,027 (9.0%)
* Write-ins – 4,682 (1.7%)
Alabama's 2nd Congressional District Democratic Primary, 2020
* Phyllis Harvey-Hall (D) - 27,399 (59.2%)
* Nathan Mathis (D) - 18,898 (40.8%)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mathis, Nathan
1943 births
Living people
Candidates in the 2016 United States elections
County commissioners in Alabama
Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives
People from Dale County, Alabama
People from Geneva County, Alabama
People from Houston County, Alabama
20th-century American politicians
21st-century American politicians
Candidates in the 2020 United States elections