State Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Androscoggin), a long-time libertarian crusader and a fixture at the State House, announced Wednesday that he not seek another term in the Legislature.
Instead, Brakey will step into the role of Executive Director with the Free State Project in New Hampshire.
“Serving in the Maine Senate for three terms on behalf of my constituents — defending the freedoms and paychecks of all Maine people — has been (and continues to be) the greatest honor of my life,” Brakey said in a press release.
“Conversations with my wife increasingly focus on our shared desire to grow our family and the challenges of doing so on the current path,” he said.
Brakey, who represents District 20 in the Maine Senate (Auburn, New Gloucester, Poland and Durham), has long been involved in Maine politics, beginning with Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential campaign in Maine.
In 2014 he was first elected to the Maine State Senate at the age of 26, making him the youngest state senator in America at the time. He was reelected to the Maine State Senate in 2016.
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In 2018, he won the nomination to be the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.
He faced and was defeated by incumbent Sen. Angus King, who is nominally independent but caucuses with the Democratic Party.
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In 2022 Brakey decided to run for his old Maine Senate seat and won defeating Bettyann Sheats.
Over his three terms in the Maine Senate, Brakey has been outspoken about the threat of government overreach and the value of protecting individual liberty.
Brakey led the charge for constitutional carry to be passed in 2015. This allows all law abiding citizens in Maine to practice concealed and open carry of a firearm without any permit required from the government.
Brakey also had a knack for exposing extremists in left-wing politics.
In June, Brakey proposed an amendment which would have banned the sale or transfer of fetal remains to any for-profit or nonprofit entity, with an exception made for burials and cremations.
All Senate Democrats voted against this proposed amendment.
Brakey is not completely exiting the political world, as he will become the Executive Director of the Free State Project in New Hampshire beginning tomorrow.
According to its website, the Free State Project is a “movement of thousands of freedom-loving people to New Hampshire.”
The movement further describes itself as a “mass migration of more than 20,000 people who have pledged to move to New Hampshire for liberty.”
As Brakey points out in his press release, the Free State Project is endorsed by his political role model, Ron Paul.
Brakey also specified that in order to take his position with the Free State Project, he will have to relocate to New Hampshire.
Brakey said that he hopes a “restoration of liberty in New Hampshire will overflow into neighboring states.”
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="23509 https://www.themainewire.com/?p=23509">1 Comment
I remember thinking this free state project was a great idea back in like 2000? So uhh how many original pledgers are dead? When will this thing get off the ground?