CLARION, Pa. (EYT) – Braxton White, of Marianne, has announced he is running for Clarion County Commissioner as a write-in on the Democratic Ballot in the May 21 Primary Election.
Ed Heasley is the only candidate on the Democratic primary ballot, and White’s write-in campaign hopes to secure enough votes to be included on the November ballot in the general election.
Braxton, who also serves on the Clarion Area School Board and the Clarion County Career Center Board, has been active for several years on the Clarion County Democrat Board.
White, 32, would bring an interesting background to the commissioner race.
ExploreClarion.com interviewed him this week, and below is a snippet of the candidate’s background and the challenges, education, and experience he would bring to the position:
“I grew up in a multi-generational home. My mother had undiagnosed mental health issues, and my father was pretty absent in my life. When you’re just beginning like that, a lot of people end up in cyclical poverty, and they don’t make it.
“That very easily could’ve been me if my great grandparent didn’t come into our lives.
“I was very young, and I don’t remember my parents together or anything like that, so I lived with my great grandparents from day one through adolescence. My great grandmother was a second-grade teacher for 30 years. My great grandfather was also a school principal and superintendent. He was also a World War II veteran and talked about some of his experiences.
“They did so much for me, and I often think about what it would have been like without them. A lot of people here don’t have that advantage. I had safety and security that meant when my mom was able to be a good mother; she had the time and the capability to do that. Eventually, my grandparents got to a point where they were getting older (they were born in 1919), so by the time I was about 16 years old, they weren’t really able to take care of themselves anymore. My mother and I moved to Titusville public housing, and I was able to be the one to pay the bills and take care of the money because of her mental illness. It made everything that my grandparents sacrificed in their golden years when they should’ve been retired traveling the world worth it.
“I graduated from Titusville High School. I met my wife Stephanie at Wesley Woods, a Christian summer camp and conference center at Grand Valley. It’s very much a clichéd love story. We met when we were both still in high school. She’s the kindest most compassionate, most driven caring wife and mother. She made sure I did something with the chance my grandparents gave me.
“After high school, I was kind of floating around, and I didn’t really have much of a path in life. In 2008 at the peak of the surge in Iraq, I enlisted in the Army National Guard. I figured that at some point I would get deployed, and I was ready to go, but that never happened. I count my blessings all the time that I never was called, but I have a lot of friends who went through all of that. I am very appreciative of what they went through, and it’s really important that we go above and beyond to take care of veterans and their service.
In 2011 White earned a degree in architectural drafting and design from Triangle Tech in DuBois. He worked shortly in industry and was called back to teach at Triangle Tech in 2015 for four years.
“It was one the best jobs I have ever had. They had a great team of faculty, and it was very rewarding. I saw a lot of different circumstances in students and a lot more diversity than someone might expect in an area. There were a lot of different ages of students in trade school.”
In 2014 Braxton and Stephanie had their first child, Will.
“He is such a kind and gentle boy that gives you hope for the future and something to smile about.”
White recently was hired by the EADS Group in Clarion as a CAD operator.
“I’m a pretty strong advocate for special education for students because I know how much circumstances matter,” said White about his position on the school board. “Kids in special education — they’ve got some really tough circumstances and their families have even tougher circumstances.”
As far as a county commissioner, White also talks about his circumstances throughout life.
“We need to make sure that we’re doing everything we can for the people on those kinds of situations where it’s just so much more to overcome.
“It sounds like I overcame so much, but I didn’t because I had someone there to change my circumstances and a lot of people just don’t have that. I think a role of government isn’t a business — it’s about taking care of your community, and that doesn’t necessarily mean you should buy everyone a house and car, but we need to meet the needs of the community.
“My path in life has made one thing clear to me: While hard work and decision making play a role in our adult lives, the circumstances we are born into are just as important. We need to do what we can to improve the circumstances and raise the bar for all of us, especially the most vulnerable in Clarion County.”
