Winner of the American reality TV show Survivor, Nick Wilson has now won the 2022 US midterm elections to become a state representative of the 82nd District in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Wilson, a Republican and a former public defender, won the Kentucky seat, becoming a state legislator after announcing in 2021 he would run for the seat. Wilson was endorsed by retiring incumbent Regina Huff.

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Wilson ran unopposed in his 82nd district, making this one of the easier challenges of the election season as well as one he’s faced in recent years. 

He was chosen as the winner of the 37th season of the programme, Survivor: David vs. Goliath, in 2018. Wilson’s victory made him the ninth Survivor winner to win the game with no votes cast against them throughout the whole contest. He then made a comeback for the 40th season, Survivor: Winners at War, in 2020 to compete against previous Survivor franchise champions, finishing in seventh place.

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Wilson was brought up in Williamsburg, Kentucky. Wilson’s parents divorced when he was a child. While they were living with their father, his grandmother assisted in raising him and his four siblings. When he earned a Bachelor’s in political science from the University of Kentucky, he became the first member of his family to complete college. He joined the Kappa Sigma (Beta-Nu) fraternity in Kentucky.

Wilson was more motivated to use his position as a public defender than his own accomplishments after he suffered a personal loss – his mother’s death due to a drug overdose. He felt obligated to go back to his hometown and support the locals.

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Wilson started working as a public defender in his hometown after graduating from the University of Alabama School of Law. He’s mostly concerned with tackling the opioid crisis. He began a new job with the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorney Office in January 2019.