Eric Brakey

Eric Brakey (born August 8, 1988) is an American politician, serving the U.S. state of Maine.

Brakey was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in the greater suburb of Shaker Heights, Ohio before attending Ohio University, where he studied theater performance.

After college, he moved to New York City and worked as a professional actor.

A supporter of Congressman Ron Paul, Brakey took a job on his 2012 presidential campaign and moved to Maine.

Brakey was Maine state director for the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign; he led Ron Paul's supporters to win a majority of Maine delegate seats to the 2012 Republican National Convention, and won key seats on the Maine Republican state committee and national committee.

After working for Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, Brakey led Defense of Liberty PAC, a libertarian political action committee in Maine.

Brakey served as the Maine state director for the 2012 Ron Paul presidential campaign during the events of the 2012 Maine Republican Convention, in which Ron Paul supporters elected a majority of Maine delegates to the Republican National Convention, and took over many key positions in the Maine Republican Party.

Bill Nemitz of the Portland Press Herald called this event "the most successful political coup in recent Maine history."

In June 2012, Brakey founded the Defense of Liberty PAC, a libertarian political action committee in Maine.

In 2013, the group assigned grades to lawmakers based on their votes on bills they supported (such as legislation to make it legal for Maine residents to carry concealed firearms without a permit) and on bills they opposed (such as legislation to increase the minimum wage).

The group designated 10 Republican legislators as "Honor Roll" members for positions aligned with the group, and deemed 21 Democratic legislators and independent Representative Joseph E. Brooks "constitutional threats" for positions opposed to the group.

Brakey announced his campaign for Maine state senate in July 2013.

His campaign chairman was former State Senator Lois Snowe-Mello.

In August 2013, during his campaign for the state senate, Brakey gained attention for a commercial he acted in for Vita CoCo coconut water several years earlier.

The commercial featured men dancing in Brazilian bathing suits.

Attention to this commercial began when Mike Hein (a former employee of the Maine Christian Civic League) sent video of the commercial to major news outlets in Maine, as well as to Eric Brakey's pastors at East Auburn Baptist Church.

In his message, Hein describes Brakey as "dancing around in his underwear in his bedroom, as though he were demon-possessed."

Brakey responded, "That's my background, and I'm still doing a lot of acting. I'm an actor, and when I was working professionally in New York City this was a real fun, wonderful opportunity doing a commercial for a national brand."

At the time of the controversy, Brakey noted that he was working as an actor with the Lewiston/Auburn Community Little Theatre in an upcoming production of Monty Python's Spamalot, also a comedic piece.

Maine political commentator Matthew Gagnon wrote that the incident boosted Brakey's State Senate campaign by providing "free publicity" and "an opportunity to show his personality and good nature to the voters."

Brakey was elected to the state senate for district 20 in 2014.

This district includes Auburn, New Gloucester, Poland, Minot, and Mechanic Falls.

In January 2014, Brakey visited Bitcoin Center NYC to raise money and became "the first candidate in his state to accept campaign donations in bitcoins."

The American Conservative Union ranked Brakey's voting record as the most conservative in the Maine Senate in 2015 2016, and 2017.

In 2015, Brakey sponsored legislation that eliminated Maine's requirement to obtain a permit to carry a concealed firearm "for legal gun owners who are age 21 or older, and for all military servicemen or servicewomen over 18 years old."

The legislation won broad bipartisan support in the House and Senate and was signed into law by Governor Paul LePage.

The legislation was supported by the National Rifle Association and the Maine State Police, and opposed by Everytown for Gun Safety, the Maine Chiefs of Police Association, and the Maine Sheriffs' Association.

He was re-elected in 2016.

Brakey served as chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

In 2016, as senate chairman for the Health and Human Services Committee, Brakey negotiated welfare reform legislation, which banned the use of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) funds on purchases of tobacco, liquor, gambling materials, lottery tickets, bail, firearms, vacations, adult entertainment, and tattoos.

To enforce this prohibition, penalties for making prohibited welfare purchases include required restitution for intentional violations and suspensions of benefits ranging up to three months on the first offense and up to 24 months of suspended benefits on third and subsequent offenses.

Brakey, as chair for the Health and Human Services Committee, was the lead senate sponsor of state "right to try" legislation in 2016, which guarantees terminally ill patients the right to use investigational drugs, treatments, and medical devices that have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The legislation passed the Maine House and Senate and Governor Paul LePage signed the legislation into law on March 30, 2016, making Maine the 25th state in the nation (and the first in New England) to pass right-to-try legislation.

Brakey was the sole "no" vote in the senate against the creation of the Maine Capital Investment Fund; in floor speeches, he opposed the fund, which directed public funds for a loan program to incentivize large, out-of-state businesses to relocate to Maine.

Brakey has sponsored legislation to eliminate Maine's business income tax, while also eliminating 47 state tax credits or exemptions enjoyed by a number of industries.

Brakey was the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018, losing to incumbent Senator Angus King with 35% of the vote in a three-way race.

In 2020, Brakey sought the Republican nomination for Maine's 2nd congressional district, but placed third in the Republican primary election behind state representative Dale Crafts and Adrienne Bennett.

Later that year, he was selected as the Republican candidate for Secretary of State of Maine.

In 2022, Brakey won a third term in the Maine State Senate after four years out of office.

He defeated former Maine State Representative Bettyann Sheats.