Jared Brantley

**Jared Brantley** (born September 18, 1969) is an American politician and businessman who has served as the 47th Governor of Pennsylvania since February 4, 2017. Brantley has been a member of the Democratic Party since 2003. Brantley succeeded Norris Vilseck as Governor on February 4, after Vilseck stepped down to become the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Prior to his governorship, Jared was the Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, the CEO of the Lawrenceville Company, and held various upper-level positions in his home-county of Indiana’s Democratic Committee and local government.

## Early Life

Jared Brantley was born into a middle-class family. His mother was a housewife and his father a 9-5 blue-collar worker. Being raised in the presence of his mother and father’s struggle to handle their finances, Jared developed a pro-worker and pro-union mentality. The traditional setup of the family and his father instilled Jared with some conservative views, primarily fiscal conservatism. Wanting to promote his standpoint and represent the blue-collar workforce he grew up around, Jared dedicated his education down a path of business and politics, joining school clubs and classes which curricula focused on those fields.

Jared became a model student in these classes and clubs, becoming successful in his high school’s DECA and FBLA chapters, his Model UN, and even being elected President of his Student Council. As his college years approached, this experience became more and more important.

## Adolescence

Jared was enrolled into the Eberly College of Business and Information Technology at 19. He studied there for four years, receiving a BBA. After graduating he got employed by a small office supply business in Pittsburgh that he eventually became Vice President of in 1995. Utilizing the onset of the Internet Age that had taken grip of the world in the 90s, Jared modernized the office supply company, which was primarily focused on paper products before, but began to sell hardware and information technology during Jared’s Vice Presidency.

Jared’s efforts allowed this company to become frequently ranked in the Top Twenty for the largest and most successful company of its industry in Pennsylvania. Around the time of Jared’s departure the company ranked at #13 for size and #15 for success.

Around this time Jared pursued two non-business objectives. Starting a family, and engaging in politics. Around 1994, Jared began pursuing more serious relationships, going through four until 1996 when he met his first wife, Francesca Calvino. They were married in 1997, shortly after his 27th birthday. Alongside this, Jared became a spokesperson an activist for the Pennsylvanian AFL-CIO.

## Recent Years

He remained Vice President until 2000, when he left the company to become employed in financial services, an industry he studied part-time during his Vice Presidency. He was employed by Lawrenceville Accounting and Insurance Co. in 2001, a regional Pittsburgh financial services company. Jared officially joined the Democratic Party in 2003, and became a staff member of the Indiana County Democratic Committee, furthering his concurrent political career.

Jared also rose through the ranks of LAIC following his employment. By 2005, Jared was the Assistant Manager of the Indiana Regional Branch. Although a minor setback occurred in 2006, which was an adultery scandal with his secretary that lead to his divorce and Jared saying he’d resign from his managerial position. Nonetheless, Jared’s reputation and prowess let him regain his position in 2008. He became a regional manager for his home-county of Indiana by 2009.

Jared vied for the position of CEO of LAIC, and in 2010 was successfully appointed as the CEO. He reformed the company, diversifying its industries. LAIC became a financial services-oriented division, Jared’s former office supplies company was acquired and turned into Lawrenceville Office Supplies, and he created the Lawrenceville Workers’ Assistance Group, an employment agency that Jared planned on using to assist laid off and unemployed blue-collar workers receive new jobs. The umbrella company was named The Lawrenceville Company.

In the Autumn of 2008, Jared met Renee Moore, and they had a relationship which quickly grew over the next few months, and in 2009 they married, with Renee becoming Jared's second wife. Jared was still close with Francesca, and Renee was comfortable with this, treating Francesca as a simple family friend.

During these years, Jared also had success in his concurrent political career. Jared became an Area Leader of the Indiana County Democratic Committee in 2005. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee next year. In 2007, he ran for and won the position of Chairman of the County Commissioners of Indiana County - and retained his Chairmanship in the Democratic Committee. He remained in this position for the next few years, increasing his recognition and popularity. He frequently stated his goal was to “make my name be known from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia”.

By 2012, he was one of Pennsylvania’s most well-known politicians. He was frequently interviewed, written about, featured on local news, and had a large political following. Around this time he became an acquaintance of incumbent Governor Norris Vilseck. Over the next two years their relationship, politically, became increasingly close. In 2014, Jared made the announcement he would run for Lieutenant Governor for the Democrats. Jared resigned from his Committee and County Chairmanships soon after, he also resigned from The Lawrenceville Company. Upon departure, he was named CEO Emeritus and became a major shareholder, receiving a 5% stake in the company.

## Governorship

Jared won the primary and got on Norris' gubernatorial ticket. Norris won the gubernatorial election, and he and Jared were inaugurated on January 20 of 2015. While Norris’ political achievements were more frequently highlighted than Jared’s during Norris’ second term, Jared still was a well-received politician during his lieutenant governorship. Jared’s approval rating remained in the 60s and 70s amongst Democrats and 20s for Republicans. He still had the support of the AFL-CIO and other voting blocs he accessed during his early career. When Governor Vilseck resigned in 2016, Jared succeeded him as Governor.

Ever since, Jared has received criticism for lack of action in many areas. He has paid lip service to bi-partisanship and has expressed interest in, visiting Pennsylvanian blue-collar workers and creating a pro-union, pro-worker identity, versus he current corporate image. In his term he has not yet promoted any bills in the legislature, only taking action on the Opioid crisis after intense criticism. Still Brantley is optimistic about winning the governorship in his own right.

## Personal life

### Marriage

Jared first married in 1997, marrying Francesca Calvino, who he met during his time as a member of the AFL-CIO. Jared and Francesca both worked together for the AFL-CIO during their marriage, becoming a well-known political couple in the AFL-CIO. The two remained married for nine years, separating in 2006 over Jared’s cheating scandal with a LAIC secretary. Jared stepped down from his position in LAIC, never saw the Secretary again, and had a divorce. However, Francesca and Jared remained close, continuing their work in the AFL-CIO but not seeking a new relationship.

Jared remained single for three more years, until he met Renee Moore, a management-level employee of LAIC. The two dated for several months and married in 2009. He, Renee, and Francesca have remained friends and have worked together multiple times politically and for the union.

### Religious Views

Jared was raised an evangelical Protestant by his parents, however he has recently stated he is lapsed, as he hasn’t been to church in over a year. Although, he has claimed if he has a child he will begin going to church again.

### Political Views

* Fiscal conservatism - Since his days as a manager in the Lawrenceville Accounting and Insurance Company, Jared has identified as a fiscal conservative. As a result, he is more cooperative with Republicans on financial and budgetary legislation, and draws the most support from the fiscon voting bloc in Pennsylvania.
* Non-interventionism - In foreign policy, Jared is supportive of a non-interventionist policy. In a 2015 interview as Lieutenant Governor, Jared stated that he supports an ”Article 5 defense policy”, or that America should only get involved in foreign crisis if it directly effects American interests and security in a negative way, or has severely effected an ally.
* Soft globalism - Coined in the same 2015 interview, Jared self-idenfifies as a “soft globalist”, which he defines a globalist who supports economic globalization, but slow paced so less developed and nationalist countries could adjust easier, and opposes political globalization and integration beyond what is provided by the UN.
* Patriotism - Jared has repeatedly promoted the virtues of patriotism, claiming that it is only logical someone supports their country, especially America, due to all the wonders and opportunities it provides its citizens. He distinguishes patriotism and nationalism by describing nationalism as an excessive love that can become stubborn and ignorant, and patriotism as a more simple and respectable adoration for one’s country.
* Immigration - Jared supports border control, but doesn’t believe immigration should be abandoned or limited. He believes that illegal and undocumented immigrants should be given six months to attain employment and undergo naturalization before being deported. He also has stated that ICE should be reformed to prevent humanitarian disasters (such as immigrant deaths, firing into crowds, etc.), and that the judicial system should be reformed so immigrants do not have to undergo a harsh, Byzantine process towards citizenship.
* LGBT rights - Jared has openly supported LGBT rights since 1994, and has endorsed and even appeared at several pro-LGBT events since then. However, he has been less vocal and indicative of his stance on transgender rights, as has mostly stayed away from the topic - even as Governor.
* Gun rights - Jared has received a C+ rating from the Gunowers of America. He has expressed support in universal background checks, a national database of at-risk individuals, and for the gun ownership age to be raised to 21. He believes all Americans should be able to own guns because “it literally says [sic] so in the Constitution,” but regulations should be put on them since, “modern Americans and the Founding Fathers are probably both aware of the fact that guns can be dangerous and need protections.” In the 2014 gubernatorial election, Jared was supported by an average of 46% of gun-owning and pro-gun Pennsylvanians, compared to only 21% for Norris.
* Drug policy - Jared was mostly indifferent towards drug policy, leaving it to, as The Philadelphia Inquirer explained it, “his cronies up in the State Capitol.” However, in May of 2017, Jared began taking major strides in directly combating drug and opioid abuse. He met with the heads of Pennsylvania’s health legislative committees, and several representatives of PAMED and ARPO, both major opioid control advocacy groups, and discussed with both various methods through which the drug crisis could be better addressed in Pennsylvania.
* Abortion - Jared was assigned a MIXED rating from Planned Parenthood in 2016. During his tenure as the Chairman of the Indiana County Commissioners, he was faced with Ordinance 36-2010. Ordinance 36, nicknamed the Alicia & Georgia Law, was an abortion law created as a result of denial of abortion to Alicia May and Georgia Dickerson by a local Indiana hospital. Jared publicized his views on abortion, stating he was against post-first trimester abortion due to the fact that brain activity occurs afterwards, and only if the fetus is dangerous to the mother or a product of rape after the first trimester. After several amendments, Ordinance 36 was passed.
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