Nathan Mathis

Mathis was born in Midland City, Alabama 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, 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 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.{{cite web|url=https://lasvegassun.com/news/2005/jun/22/mathis-to-run-for-governor-on-gambling-platform/|title=Mathis to run for governor on gambling platform|newspaper=Las Vegas Sun|date=June 22, 2005|accessdate=May 4, 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wsfa.com/story/3503898/nathan-mathis-to-run-for-governor|title=Nathan Mathis To Run For Governor|date=22 June 2005 |publisher=WSFA|accessdate=May 4, 2018}} He ultimately entered the Democratic primary, but lost to Lucy Baxley.

In 2010, Mathis switched parties and became a Republican. He ran that same year for Alabama Senate 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 due to his support of Republican candidates within the four years prior to the election.{{cite web|url=http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/democrats-say-no-to-mathis-candidacy/article_a02c2d3a-9f3d-11e3-abcd-0017a43b2370.html|title=Democrats say no to Mathis candidacy|author=Griffin, Lance|newspaper=Dothan Eagle|date=February 26, 2014|accessdate=May 4, 2018}}

In 2016, Mathis was the Democratic nominee for Alabama's 2nd congressional district against incumbent Republican Martha Roby.{{cite web|url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2016/10/27/mathis-challenges-roby-congressional-district-2-preview/92529788/|title=Mathis challenges Roby: Congressional District 2 preview|author=Yawn, Andrew J.|newspaper=Montgomery Advertiser|date=October 27, 2016|accessdate=May 4, 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wsfa.com/story/33628623/roby-mathis-face-off-for-alabamas-2nd-congressional-district-seat|title=Roby, Mathis face off for Alabama's 2nd Congressional District seat|publisher=WSFA|date=November 3, 2016|accessdate=May 4, 2018}} Despite the district's heavy Republican lean and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump winning the district a nearly 2–1 margin, he lost the election by only 8 percentage points.{{cite web|url=https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/index.ssf/2016/11/martha_roby_who_condemned_trum.html|title=Martha Roby, who condemned Trump, ekes out re-election win to Congress|author=Gattis, Paul|newspaper=The Birmingham News|date=November 8, 2016|accessdate=May 4, 2018}}

Mathis ran as a Democrat for Alabama's 2nd congressional district in 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.wtvy.com/content/news/Candidates-file-2020-papers-as-Alabama-qualifying-window-closes-564688041.html|title = Candidates file 2020 papers as Alabama qualifying window closes| date=9 November 2019 }} He lost the primary election.

Mathis and his wife, Sue, had 2 children; both of whom are deceased.{{cite web|url=https://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/15972/nathan-mathis|title=Nathan Mathis' Biography|publisher=Project VoteSmart|accessdate=May 4, 2018}} 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 and particularly homophobic remarks made by Moore.{{cite web|url=http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/local/nathan-mathis-says-now-what-he-wished-he-said-a/article_eef3dc1a-df9e-11e7-a31e-d3d3bad77921.html|title=Nathan Mathis says now what he wished he said a long time ago|author=Cook, Jim|newspaper=Dothan Eagle|date=December 12, 2017|accessdate=May 5, 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2017/12/11/how-is-my-daughter-a-pervert-alabama-dads-plain-spoken-rebuke-of-roy-moore-strikes-a-nerve/|title='How is my daughter a pervert?': Alabama dad's plain-spoken rebuke of Roy Moore strikes a nerve|author=Rosenberg, Eli|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 11, 2017|accessdate=May 5, 2018}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://www.dothaneagle.com/news/letters_to_editor/letter-soul-baring-thoughts-on-gay-bashing/article_a1a6b423-82df-5bff-92fd-46e1e1a12ece.html|title=Letter: Soul-baring thoughts on gay-bashing|author=Mathis, Nathan|newspaper=Dothan Eagle|date=August 22, 2012|accessdate=May 5, 2018}}

[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/toritruscheit/nathan-mathis-roy-moore-lgbt-rights-in-the-south] Buzzfeed News did a follow-up to his story about a year after the Roy Moore video went viral & his [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4cEQSkmGV-Q appearance] on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. This showed his continuing advocacy for the LGBTQ community by attending Rocket City Pride and being a guest speaker at [https://www.unlimited-madison.org/] Unlimited Ministries of Alabama. [https://www.facebook.com/UnlimitedMinistriesAL/videos/647576762246957?vh=e&d=n&sfns=mo]

;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 – 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 (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{{Cite web|title=2020 Alabama 2nd Congressional District Election|url=https://www.bamapolitics.com/alabama/alabama-elections/2020-alabama-elections/2020-alabama-2nd-congressional-district-election/|access-date=2020-06-22|website=Bama Politics|date=21 October 2019|language=en}}

• Phyllis Harvey-Hall (D) - 27,399 (59.2%)
• Nathan Mathis (D) - 18,898 (40.8%)

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Category:1943 births

Category:Living people

Category:Candidates in the 2016 United States elections

Category:County commissioners in Alabama

Category:Democratic Party members of the Alabama House of Representatives

Category:People from Dale County, Alabama

Category:People from Geneva County, Alabama

Category:People from Houston County, Alabama

Category:Candidates in the 2020 United States House of Representatives elections

Category:20th-century members of the Alabama Legislature