Eric Brakey in 2018 ME Senate race
On Abortion:
Pro-life, and anti-ObamaCare
All of Senator Brakey's positions and comments come from the 2016 CCL Candidate Survey [as reported on maine.patriotguide.us]: Q: Do you generally support or oppose abortion?
Eric Brakey: Oppose. "I am Pro-Life."
Q: Do you support or oppose a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)?
Eric Brakey: Support. "Obamacare has made healthcare more expensive, not less. We need free market solutions."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Abortion:
Oppose funding Planned Parenthood; require parental consent
Q: Do you support or oppose public funding for Planned Parenthood and/or Maine Family Planning?Eric Brakey: Oppose. "Opponents of abortion should not be forced to support this practice with their tax dollars."
Q: Do you support or oppose requiring
parental consent for minor women obtaining an abortion?
Eric Brakey: Support. "This is a major medical procedure and should not be undertaken without parental consent and notification."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Civil Rights:
Leave transgender bathroom policy up to local school board
Q: Do you support or oppose legislation in Maine that would mirror the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act?Eric Brakey: Support. "All should have the right to practice their religious beliefs as they choose."
Q: Do you support or oppose
the withdrawal of federal funds for public schools that fail to comply with the Obama administration's bathroom policy for transgender students?
Eric Brakey: Oppose. "This should be the decision of local school boards, not the White House."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Education:
Competition will improve our schools
All of Senator Brakey's positions and comments come from the 2016 CCL Candidate Survey [as reported on maine.patriotguide.us]: Q: Do you support or oppose allowing public education funds to follow students to schools or programs of their
family's choice (school choice)?
Eric Brakey: Support "Competition will improve our schools by making them more responsive to the expectations of parents."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Gun Control:
Oppose background checks for individual gun transfers
Q: Do you support or oppose the referendum question number three which would require, with exceptions, background checks prior to the sale or transfer of firearms between individuals not licensed as firearms dealers, and with the failure to do
so punishable by law?Eric Brakey: Oppose. "This would turn regular, law-abiding citizens into unintentional felons, simply by loaning a firearm to a friend going hunting."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Jobs:
Oppose increasing minimum wage; it takes out the bottom rung
All of Senator Brakey's positions and comments come from the 2016 CCL Candidate Survey [as reported on maine.patriotguide.us]: Q: Do you support or oppose increasing Maine's minimum wage?
Eric Brakey: Oppose. "Taking the bottom rungs off the job ladder makes it more difficult for low-skilled individuals to enter the workforce and learn work skills."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Tax Reform:
No additional 3% tax on income above $200,000
Q: Do you support or oppose an additional 3% tax on individual Maine taxable income above $200,000 to create a state fund that would provide direct support for student learning in kindergarten through 12th grade public education?
Eric Brakey: Oppose. "We have a doctor shortage in Maine, and this tax hike would make it even more difficult to attract healthcare professionals."
Source: Christian Civic League on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 1, 2018
On Foreign Policy:
Crazy that we have our troops in 177 different countries
On foreign policy: "The interesting thing is, as a liberty Republican, I'm also with the Democrats on some issues, the Republicans on some issues, and sometimes I'm by myself completely, but it tends to be the exact opposite of the issues,"
Brakey explained. "When it comes to foreign policy, I want us to be realistic. I think that it's crazy that we have our troops in 177 different countries, that we're in Afghanistan 16 years later, when the youngest soldiers currently going in there were
two years old when we went in there in the first place."Brakey has certainly put his chips in the center of the table; as a Maine representative on the Republican National Committee National Platform Convention in Cleveland last year, he supported
unsuccessful condemnations of the intervention in Libya and a resolution calling the deposition of Middle Eastern dictators a failed policy. Where others talk the talk, Brakey has gone out on a limb to uphold and represent his values on the main stage.
Source: Washington Examiner on 2018 Maine Senate race
Dec 7, 2017
On Crime:
Being pro-life is why I oppose the death penalty
Since Senator Brakey is a Liberty Republican I found it imperative to get a specific answer on the issue of abortion. Many small government advocates split when it comes to believing in using the government to prevent abortion.
He retorted with a very unique stance on pro-life ethics. "I am Pro-Life. For me however, I am someone who operates on the basis of principles, not necessarily issue by issue.
I am Pro-Life in principle, and certainly I apply that to the issue of abortion." he went further, and explained where many
Pro-Life movement falls short. "For me being Pro-Life is not just about abortion, being Pro-Life is also why I oppose the death penalty."
Source: Cecc Point News on 2018 Maine Senate race
Oct 3, 2017
On Budget & Economy:
The government takes enough; we shouldn't raise taxes
When I ran for office , I promised my constituents that I would not vote to raise taxes. Government takes enough of our money already.
This budget is already $7.1 billion dollars--the most expensive budget in Maine history--and we do not need to raise anymore taxes.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jul 3, 2017
On Tax Reform:
Voted against raising the lodging tax to 10.5%
Early this afternoon, the Senate accepted the first reading of the current budget proposal "under the hammer" without a roll call vote. By law as an emergency measure, it will have a roll call vote on final enactment.
I voted against the last budget proposal because it increases the lodging tax to 10.5%, giving Maine the highest lodging tax of any state in our region.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jul 3, 2017
On Gun Control:
The second amendment is essential for liberty
I am pleased to receive the endorsement of @NatlGunRights [NAGR, the National Association for Gun Rights].
The right of self-defense is at the core of our nation and essential for liberty.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jun 28, 2017
On Health Care:
Do better than backdoor deals that led to ObamaCare
When DC insiders cut secret deals in smoky back rooms, the little guy always loses. I recognize that the GOP leadership has a tough job, but that should not mean legislating behind closed doors.
We deserve better than the same kind of backdoor process that saddled us with ObamaCare in the first place. It's time to tamp down the rhetoric, fix our broken healthcare system, and start standing up for the little guy."
Source: Facebook posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jun 22, 2017
On Budget & Economy:
Not just for economic freedom but also personal freedom
[Asked about campaign themes], "There's a real opportunity right now for someone who has a different kind of Republican message like I do, a Republican message values not just economic freedom but also personal freedom," Brakey said before highlighting
some libertarian trends in Maine. "We're a state that in the last election cycle voted both against gun control and for legalizing marijuana and I think that says something about the libertarian, 'leave me alone' attitude of the people of Maine."
Source: RedAlertPolitics.com on 2018 Maine Senate race
Apr 30, 2017
On Homeland Security:
Apply limited government philosophy to the military
I grew up my entire life being told and believing in a Republican Party that was supposed to stand for limited government. I grew up being told that the Republican Party and the philosophy of
limited government meant that we believed that for the most part not competent, can barely run the post office and DMV, and yet, we're at a point where we expect the military to run operations in 150 countries all across the world.
Source: RedAlertPolitics.com on 2018 Maine Senate race
Apr 30, 2017
On War & Peace:
Learn from the past: we don't need another Mideast war
Engagement in another Middle East civil war will cost more lives & make us less safe--
we must only reflect upon the last 30 years as proof.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Apr 6, 2017
On Gun Control:
Bipartisan Republican leads the charge to less gun control
Eric led the charge to pass bipartisan constitutional carry legislation,
allowing law abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun in the state of Maine without a permit.
Source: 2018 Maine Senate campaign website EricBrakey.com
Apr 3, 2017
On Corporations:
Cut $400M in corporate welfare & return it to the people
Tomorrow, I will release my plan to cut $400 million in corporate welfare
so we can cut taxes for Maine people & businesses.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Feb 26, 2017
On Health Care:
Apply principles of freedom to broken healthcare system
Glad @RandPaul [GOP Senator from Kentucky whose ObamaCare replacement plan focuses on deregulation]
is fighting to fix our broken healthcare system with principles of freedom.
Source: Twitter posting on 2018 Maine Senate race
Feb 25, 2017
On Drugs:
Supports legalizing marijuana for recreational use
Maine residents have voted to legalize marijuana for recreational use in their state. The final results of the referendum were within a fraction of a percentage point, but supporters declared themselves the winners and had predicted home cultivation of
marijuana would be legal by around Christmas."The Maine people have passed it, and we should work on implementing it," said Republican state Sen. Eric Brakey, who supported the ballot issue.
Medical marijuana was already legal in Maine.
People 21 or older will now be allowed to use up to 2-1/2 ounces of marijuana, and retail marijuana shops and social clubs could open around the state. Some municipalities have balked at allowing such businesses to open in their communities.
Marijuana won't become available at the retail level until after a state rulemaking process that could be slow and arduous. All of the marijuana sold in Maine will also be grown in Maine.
Source: PBS Newshour on 2018 Maine Senate race
Nov 10, 2016
On Foreign Policy:
Deposing secular dictators in Mid-East empowers our enemies
Eric Brakey, a member of the 112-person panel tasked with drafting the official Republican Party platform, sought to make part of the platform more simpatico with Donald Trump.Brakey proposed to condemn the Obama administration's intervention in
Libya and blame it for destabilizing the region and empowering the Islamic State. "The deposing of secular dictators in the Middle East empowers our enemies," his text read. "We oppose the continuing of this failed practice."
Defending his views,
Brakey summoned Trump: "Even our presumptive nominee acknowledges that the decision to take out the secular dictator in Iraq was a mistake," he noted. But other delegates said they didn't like the idea of the GOP "defending evil dictators."
That amendment was defeated, as were several other Brakey proposals aimed at turning the party in a less interventionist direction. Delegates declined to soften the party's stance toward Russia, or to categorically condemn foreign aid.
Source: The Atlantic magazine on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jul 14, 2016
On Welfare & Poverty:
Disallow using food stamps to purchase junk food
What does it mean, in the year of Donald Trump, to be a Republican? As the party prepared to nominate him at its convention next week, a committee of delegates was trying to figure that out, starting with the issue of whether poor people should have
junk food.The proposal had come from Eric Brakey, a libertarian state senator from Maine and a member of the 112-person panel tasked with drafting the official Republican Party platform this week. "I would like to put in language specifying that when
Republicans are in control of the federal government, we will allow states to put restrictions in place so that SNAP benefits"--better known as food stamps--"cannot be used to purchase junk food," Brakey said from his seat on the dais, five tiers of
bunting-clad tables in a cavernous convention-center basement. In Maine, Brakey explained, the Republican governor had sought such a restriction but been denied by the Obama administration.
Source: The Atlantic magazine on 2018 Maine Senate race
Jul 14, 2016
On Education:
Support private schools, charter schools, or homeschooling
In addition to providing a quality public education option for Maine's children, we must also ensure that alternative educational options are available for parents who choose them. Every child learns differently, so we must protect the right of parents
to choose alternative schooling for their children, whether that be through private schools, charter schools, or homeschooling.Currently, parents who choose to pursue alternative education paths are punished by being forced to pay twice for their
child's education: once through their taxes, and again through the costs of private school tuition or homeschooling expenses. Eric Brakey will pursue legislation to give a tax credit for education expenses to parents who opt-out of the public education
system.
Parents who choose an alternative education path for their children should not be punished with added out-of-pocket expenses when they are already paying for a public school education. Eric Brakey will work to solve this problem.
Source: 2018 Maine Senatorial campaign website BrakeyForSenate.com
Nov 1, 2014
Page last updated: Dec 11, 2018