Geauga County Commissioner candidate Carolyn Brakey’s Feb. 4 fundraiser was a showcase of support from elected officials, as well as a birthday celebration with over 100 in attendance.
Geauga County Commissioner candidate Carolyn Brakey’s Feb. 4 fundraiser was a showcase of support from elected officials, as well as a birthday celebration with over 100 in attendance.
Brakey, who serves as president of the Geauga County Board of Health, will face off against Walter “Skip” Claypool in the March 19 Republican primary for a seat vacated by Commissioner Tim Lennon, who has chosen not to run.
Among those who turned out at the E.O.U.V. Hall on Pekin Road to cheer on Brakey were county-level officials, as well as U.S. Congressman Dave Joyce (R- Bainbridge Township), who stopped by the fundraiser-cum-birthday celebration.
Brakey made brief remarks after being introduced by her husband, Matt Brakey, who said his wife’s run is not based on political opportunism.
“Our family values freedom and liberty in the true Jeffersonian sense of the terms, and the madness of policies during the COVID era left us feeling deflated and powerless,” he said. “So, Carolyn decided to take a stand and two years ago, she applied for a position on the board of health with a singular mission and that mission wants to end mask mandates in Geauga County.
In just a few months after her appointment, Geauga County led all of Ohio in advising against compulsory masking, championing parental choice and bringing an end, once and (for) all, to the insanity.”
Matt also led the room in singing “Happy Birthday” to his wife, who was celebrating her 42nd birthday.
Rather than giving what she said would be a typical campaign speech, Brakey recounted how, twice in her life, she dreamed of a speech before having the opportunity to give it.
One of those times was the maid-of-honor speech for her sister’s wedding, which Brakey said she dreamed up even before her sister was engaged. The second was her speech before the Health District Advisory Committee in March 2022.
“You have to give a three-minute presentation (to the HDAC),” she said. “I had it all written out, all memorized, right under three minutes. Then, I had a dream and I woke up and I thought — that’s the presentation, it’s not this one I was planning.”
Brakey said in her HDAC speech, she talked about Moses taking the Israelites through the promised land while being plagued with obstacles.
“And what God could have done, is he could have taken those obstacles away,” she said. “But, he did something better. He made them brave because bravery is always the best antidote to fear.”
Public officials need to be brave in the face of challenges, whatever they may be, she said.
In addition to Joyce, those in attendance included Geauga County Commissioner Jim Dvorak, former Recorder Sharon Gingerich, current Recorder Celesta Mullins, Clerk of Courts Sheila Bevington, Prosecutor Jim Flaiz and Auditor Chuck Walder.
State Sen. Sandra O’Brien (R-Ashtabula County) and State Rep. Sara Fowler-Arthur (R-Ashtabula) were present, as well as Chester Township Trustee Ken Radtke, and Claridon Township Trustee Jonathan Tiber, who is also president of the Geauga County Township Association, and Aquilla Village Council member Chris Alusheff.
