Friends,
The State Freedom Caucus Network has grown rapidly over the last three years, so we thought it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves to all our new supporters and followers. If you missed our last seven emails, we did a short Q&A with:
This week are two more of our amazing state directors representing South Carolina (Evan Newman) and Maryland (Ali Rak).
Two interesting facts about them - Evan has won 2 different Office TV show trivia contests. Ali is a classically trained singer who almost majored in music in college. Enjoy!
EVAN NEWMAN
What is your role with SFCN? I am the State Director for South Carolina.
Where are you originally from and where do you live now? I am originally from Augusta, Georgia. I now live in Greenville, South Carolina.
Tell us about your family! And Pets! I live with my Basset Hound, Elvis. My oldest brother and sister-in-law live in Anchorage, Alaska and both work in healthcare. My middle brother lives in Brooklyn, New York and is a teacher. And my parents live in Augusta, Georgia. My dad works at a tire manufacturing plant and my mom is a teacher.
What’s the best part of your job? The best part of my job is building relationships with the members and the grassroots. Watching the members learn the process, develop their own personal skills, and lead fearlessly is inspiring to me, and energizes me to do the job everyday. The grassroots who dedicate their free time and resources to support the conservative movement with the hope of improving this state for their families and others is the ultimate form of service, and they deserve our admiration and praise for their commitment to the cause.
How did you come to SFCN? What did you do before? I worked as a political consultant, specifically helping candidates put together winning campaign strategies as well as helping various 501c3s and 4s execute on legislative advocacy priorities, and I also did a brief stint as a Congressional staffer.
Who or what most shaped your political philosophy/ideology? The 2012 Presidential election was the first presidential election to which I paid close attention. After researching the candidates, Ron Paul became my preferred candidate, and he became incredibly impactful in shaping my political ideology. I’d also say John Warren who gave me my start in politics when he ran for Governor in 2018. John’s no-nonsense commitment to service and real-world business savvy solutions to pressing policy issues have inspired me to always think outside of the box when solving legislative problems and thinking of policy, and remind me that the work is about the people who deserve our best effort.
My favorite book: Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
ALI RAK
What is your role at SFCN? I’m the Maryland State Director. I’m one of the newbies!
Where are you from originally? Where do you live now? I am originally from Buffalo, NY (Go Bills!). My husband and I have been in Charles County, Maryland since we were married in 2010. We live in beautiful and historic Port Tobacco.
Tell us about your family! And pets! We have FIVE kiddos: Matthew (13), Christian (11), Margaret (9), Jacob (7), and Elliott (almost 2). We have two dogs, an emotionally complicated rescue named Athena and a 10-month lab/shepherd mix named Mira.
What's the best part of your job? I hate boring, mundane, or routine tasks. Being with the Maryland Freedom Caucus every day always brings something fun or challenging to do. This job allows me to be creative, strategic, and bold which is the best part so far.
How did you come to SFCN? What did you do before? I’m pretty lucky in that I was familiar with almost all of our MD Freedom Caucus legislators before they officially came under the SFCN banner this year. I’ve been involved in state-level politics and citizen activism for almost a decade. When the position became available, I really felt it was a perfect merger of my skills and interests.
I’ve been a jack of all trades my entire adult life. I was a political science and classical studies double major undergrad, went on to be a special education teacher in the Teach for American Mid-Atlantic Corps, then quit teaching to raise my young family. For the last ten years, I’ve worked for my Catholic parish in full-time ministry. But that entire time, grassroots advocacy was my main hobby. I’ve been in various pro-life and liberty movements since 2015, including leading the pushback against Covid Tyranny in my county from 2020-2022.
Who or what most shaped your political philosophy/ideology? Ron Paul. His way of communicating the importance of human freedom, sound money, and foreign policy just made sense to me. But I would never have given him a second listen if not for my husband, who from our first date was always challenging me to examine my beliefs.
*Pick One To Answer*: Favorite food? Favorite place to vacation? Favorite Book? Favorite Quote? My family and I adore Hilton Head Island, SC. We love our home state of Maryland, but when we need to smell the fresh air of freedom, we head south 😅.
Keep fighting,
Andrew Roth
President
State Freedom Caucus Network
P.S. Your help is critical in building out a network of patriots and freedom fighters throughout our nation’s state capitols and in your home state. Please consider a contribution and join us as we work to advance the cause of liberty.