(Editor’s note: This story was originally published May 17. Some family member names were inadvertantly omitted.)
By Marilyn Miller
You can bet that when the 2024 Republican National Convention convenes Monday, July 15 through Thursday, July 18 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, one of the youngest observers in the meeting hall will be Minden’s own Alex Martin, 19.
Earlier this summer, Alex applied for an internship in the office of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Although all the boxes he checked were positive and he made it through the second round of applicants, “I’m only a freshman,” he said. “They passed on me.”
Alex just completed his freshman year at Mississippi State University in Starkville, where he aims to complete dual degrees in Political Science and History before applying for Law School “somewhere. I haven’t decided yet.”
Back to the RNC. “I checked my email one day and got a message from the RNC, this time the Republican National Committee. At first, I thought it was SPAM, but they asked if I would interview.”
“It was definitely a God thing,” he stated, making it obvious that he got the gig. “I’ve already connected with a few people. In fact, there’s a lot more opportunity for networking for me as a kid in college.”
Last year, when Alex graduated from Minden High School among the Top Ten, he already knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to attend law school, where he could specialize in Constitutional Law. And then he wanted to defend peoples’ freedoms, anyone who has been infringed upon by the government or other institutions.
“I want to represent the under-represented,” he summed it up. In fact, he would love to work for First Liberty Institute, the largest non-profit legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious liberty for all Americans.
“They are the ones who got me interested in Constitutional law,” he said. “Ever since I was young, I have wanted to help people. Ten years from now I hope to be working with religious freedoms organizations or constitutional law organizations.”
Alex is getting a taste of that at Mississippi State, where he is a member of a non-partisan political organization called the Stennis-Montgomery Association. He is also a member of Chi Alpha fraternity, where he leads a Life group. And he is on the executive board of the College Republicans Chapter. He finished his freshman year on the President’s List with a 4.0 grade point average.
Now he’s home waiting for his internship with the NRC to begin and pondering on the interesting people he will meet. “I look forward to meeting all types of people and to learning more in the political sphere. I’m ready to do a ‘big boy job,’” he laughed.
Alex has many people to thank for the success he has experienced in just 19 years, including his parents, Devin and Jodie Martin, and his sister, Ava Martin, 16. He pointed out Mike and Beverly Waller, his grandparents; and his aunt and uncle, Jesse and Rachel Waller; and Carl and Mary Hall as well as Erin Dudley. All have been mentors in his life.
“All of these people supported me and showed me what it meant to have a big dream at a young age. They instilled in me the desire to help people. This was super important to me. Without them, I wouldn’t have the dreams and aspirations I have now.”
He expressed his thanks to the clubs and organizations at Mississippi State, and from the Political Science Center to Congressman Michael Guest’s office (where he did an internship). “They helped me in finding opportunities, and in having a great school year,” Alex noted.
Alex is excited about the six-and-a-half weeks he will spend with the Republican National Committee, preparing for the convention which attracted 50,000 people last year. Quite an accomplishment for a goal-oriented teenager who admits the whole thing just “fell in my lap!”