Matt Rinker: Candidate For GA State House District 62
Matt Rinker, Candidate For GA State House District 62
Election Date: May 19, 2026
Candidate Website: www.mattrinker.com
Candidate Instagram: https://instagram.com/mattforgeorgia
Candidate Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattforatlanta
See your sample ballot and all candidates for this and every election here: https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/
Question 1 Topic: Defending Constitutional Rights
Over the past year, federal officers within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have detained individuals without cause and searched homes without a judicial warrant, which violates the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
Will you support the Fourth Amendment right to privacy and demand an end to unlawful conduct by DHS and other government agencies?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: All agencies, including DHS, must operate within the law. Our constitution ensures that all people, regardless of citizenship, are afforded the right of due process. As a legislator, I will support policies that ensure transparency and accountability.
Question 2 Topic: Defending Constitutional Rights
Public reports estimate that since 2022, President Donald Trump has issued more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, imprison, or otherwise punish those who are critical of him, including news organizations and talk show hosts (such as Jimmy Kimmel). In September 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi indicted former FBI director James Comey after Trump publicly called for his prosecution.
Do you agree that the president and other government officials should not attack political enemies or those exercising their First Amendment rights?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: Attacking political opponents and people exercising their rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution isn’t leadership. It’s insecure, and it undermines democracy.
Public officials should protect people’s rights, not go after them for speaking out.
Question 3 Topic: Defending Constitutional Rights
Videos, court statements, and internal communications show that officers of the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE agents, have knowingly and criminally acted outside of their authority. Since the killing of Renee Good by an ICE agent, the administration has prevented the state of Minnesota from conducting a proper criminal investigation of the perpetrator.
Do you agree that, subject to existing legal precedent, states have the right to prosecute crimes, and will you advocate for the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by federal officers?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: Yes, and there should be state laws requiring the use of officers to wear bodycams and have them turned on.
Question 4 Topic: Commitment To Democratic Process
A landmark 2004 Princeton study found that a small group of elites and
corporations have the greatest influence on U.S. legislation. This issue was
exacerbated in 2010, when SCOTUS’s Citizens United decision paved the way
for the creation of SuperPACs, which to date have spent more than $5 billion in
anonymous special interest dollars to influence US elections and policy.
In your role, will you work to ensure that corporations and PACs are not able
to exert undue influence on the legislative process?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: In this race, we’re already seeing a dark money PAC prop up a candidate by producing mailers and other advertising. Citizens United has further destroyed public trust in our elections and turned people off from civic engagement.
Question 5 Topic: Commitment To Democratic Process
The Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that authored Project
2025, has catalogued every instance of voter fraud in federal elections since
1982 and found that it occurred exceedingly rarely—about once for every
million votes. Still, unfounded claims of fraud are frequently used to cast doubt
on election results and to advocate for more restrictive laws. President Trump
has even called for Republicans to “nationalize” the elections, and on March 31,
2026, he signed an executive order to restrict absentee ballots.
As an elected official, will you help protect free and fair elections, and refute
unfounded claims of fraud that undermine faith in our electoral process?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: We’re seeing this false claim continue to be used right here in Fulton County. I will push for transparent and fair elections and fight back against any measure that makes it harder to vote.
Question 6 Topic: Commitment To Democratic Process
Though congressional district maps are usually only redrawn once a decade after the census, several states, including Texas and California, passed new laws in 2025 with the explicitly partisan purpose of gerrymandering to gain more seats in the House of Representatives. In Wisconsin and Illinois, gerrymandering has resulted in the winning party receiving about 25% more House seats than their vote share.
Do you agree that fair representation requires fair maps, and will you advocate for them?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: Further, I believe that redistricting maps should be drawn by independent commissions instead of legislators.
Question 7 Topic: Belief In System of Law
In the case of J.G.G. v. Trump, the administration disobeyed a federal court’s
explicit order on March 15, 2025, to stop a deportation flight of Venezualan
immigrants and to return any flights that were already in the air. The following
year, on February 26, 2026, Federal Court Judge Patrick Schiltz issued an
opinion detailing the Trump administration’s failure to comply with hundreds
of court orders pertaining to Habeas petitions.
In your position, will you follow court orders and hold other officials
accountable for failing to do so?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: N/A
Question 8 Topic: Belief In System of Law
Donald Trump has personally profited an estimated $1.2 billion from cryptocurrency in the second term of his presidency while simultaneously acting to deregulate the industry.
Do you believe that a president and other government officials should be required to divest from conflicts of interest during their term in office, and will you commit to doing the same?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: Further, elected officials on the federal level should be banned from trading stocks as well.
Question 9 Topic: Countering Authoritarianism
On February 20, 2026, the Supreme Court struck down $175 billion of tariffs instituted by President Trump, determining that imposing these tariffs overstepped the bounds of his authority. The administration has also illegally withheld congressionally-appropriated funds from states and government agencies through executive action, per the Government Accountability Office.
Will you commit to supporting Congress’s power of the purse and demand an end to this form of executive overreach?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: N/A
Question 10 Topic: Countering Authoritarianism
In 2024, the Supreme Court ruled that the president is immune from criminal liability for “official acts,” making impeachment the only reliable check on presidential power.
Do you believe that Congress has the responsibility to conduct impeachment proceedings, as it did by investigating alleged corruption by President Biden, in order to prevent corruption, abuse of power, and unconstitutional acts for which the president is otherwise unaccountable?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: When abuse of power and other unconstitutional acts threaten our democracy, it is the responsibility of Congress to act - whether that official is the President, a cabinet member or Supreme Court Justice.
Question 11 Topic: Countering Authoritarianism
During his second term in office, Donald Trump has fired seventeen independent inspectors general and defunded or removed key staff from independent government watchdogs including the Office of Professional Responsibility, the Office of Government Ethics, and the Office of Special Counsel. The administration has also failed to keep adequate records, blocked the release of records (such as the Epstein Files), and claimed ownership of presidential records in violation of legal precedent and ethical standards.
In your role, will you work to ensure transparency and accountability through adequate record keeping and independent inspectors, and will you hold those who do not meet these standards accountable?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: Inspectors General have proven instrumental in our government time and time again. It is important to impartial oversight of our government on all levels.
Question 12 Topic: Truth in Public Discourse and Decision-Making
Despite overwhelming scientific consensus on the benefits and risks of vaccines, some high-profile critics continue to make claims about vaccines that have been debunked. Do you believe that RFK Jr.’s choice to staff the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices with people who push easily-refuted pseudoscientific theories is harmful to Americans’ health, and will you advocate for science-based decision-making?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: I would also push for the state health organizations to provide counter, science based recommendations and information.
Question 13 Topic: Truth in Public Discourse and Decision-Making
Many public officials make false assertions when they believe it is politically useful. Vice President J.D. Vance defended this practice after claiming Haitians were eating cats and dogs, saying “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
Do you agree that lying about the facts voters use to make decisions distracts from the actual issues, and will you commit to accurately representing established facts?
Answer: Yes
Explanation: It’s disgusting and furthers public distrust in our government.