Matt Meyer - From Teacher to County Executive - Episode 2

Elected Officials of America: Underdog Stories

Matt Meyer did what isn’t done in incumbent-friendly Delaware - he beat a three-term incumbent to become County Executive of New Castle County. Hear about the headwinds his campaign faced: from fundraising difficulties to reticent support from political insiders, and how he overcame them.

3:20 - What kind of resistance did you get from the Party, or from people who told you not to run?

4:50 - “[A friend] said he could almost guarantee me that almost nobody would support me and that I shouldn’t ask permission to run.”

5:15 - “I couldn’t get really any of the inside politicos to support me.”

5:35 - How do we change people being afraid to support people going against incumbents?

7:30 - How did being in Iraq as a diplomat influence you?

12:40- Take me to the darkest time of your campaign, when you thought you couldn’t win.

14:10 - “In local politics, it’s less about policy than it is about relationships.”

15:50 - “We hit a point several months into the campaign where my fundraising numbers were nowhere near what they needed to be when you’re running against an incumbent.”

17:58 - “When the polls closed...I was sad, I really felt like I had lost.”

20:15 - How did you handle the negativity of your race?

23:55 - What would you say to a young person thinking about going into politics?

26:10 - What do you think we can do to come together?

29:20 - What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned since you’ve been in office?

31:10 - What’s a personal habit of yours that’s contributed to your success?

33:10 - What keeps you up at night?

34:10 - What would you be doing if you lost?

35:40 - What’s on your bucketlist?

36:40 - What’s next for you?

37:40 - If there’s one message you could push out to everybody, what would it be?