Eric Brakey

Eric Brakey (born August 8, 1988) is the current Executive Director of the Free State Project, and an American politician, who served as a Maine state senator from 2014 to 2018, and again from 2022 to 2024.

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 elected to the state senate for district 20 in 2014. This district includes Auburn, New Gloucester, Poland, Minot, and Mechanic Falls. He was re-elected in 2016. Brakey served as chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee.

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 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. He resigned in November 2024 in order to move to New Hampshire. Provided by Wikipedia