Braxton Mitchell | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Montana House of Representatives from the 3rd district | |
| Assumed office January 4, 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Debo Powers |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 20, 2000 Whitefish, Montana, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Education | Flathead Valley Community College |
Braxton Mitchell (born May 20, 2000) is an American politician and businessman serving as a Republican member of the Montana House of Representatives from the 3rd district. Elected in 2020, he assumed office on January 4, 2021, and became one of the youngest elected officials in the country.[1][2]
Mitchell was born in Columbia Falls, Montana,[2] and was later adopted.[3] Mitchell grew up working for his family's businesses in Columbia Falls, most notably Montana Jerky Company.[4]
While attending Columbia Falls High School, he organized a pro-gun walkout after millions of students nationwide walked out to protest gun rights.[5] Mitchell attended Flathead Valley Community College after high school.[2][4]
Mitchell's involvement in politics began in 2017 during a special election for Montana's lone congressional district, where Republican Greg Gianforte defeated Democrat Rob Quist. Mitchell saw many of his own beliefs reflected in Gianforte, and helped with his campaign as a high school student.[6]
In 2020, he ran for the 3rd district of the Montana House of Representatives. Mitchell defeated incumbent Democrat Debo Powers in the November general election by 20 points,[6] and became one of the youngest elected officials in the country.[7][8]
In 2022, he filed for re-election. In June 2022, Mitchell faced a Republican primary challenger who Mitchell accused of being a Democrat because she changed her party affiliation just days before the filing deadline. Mitchell easily defeated his primary challenger with over 73% of the vote.[9] In November 2022, Mitchell easily won re-election.[10]
Mitchell currently serves as a member on the House Judiciary Committee, the House Education Committee, and the House Agricultural Committee.[11] In his first session, Mitchell served as a member on the House Taxation Committee, the House Education Committee, and the House Fish, Wildlife, and Parks Committee.[12]
In 2023, Mitchell introduced 10 bills with 9 of them passing the Montana House and Senate.[13]
Mitchell has served as an Ambassador for Turning Point USA, an American conservative nonprofit organization founded by Charlie Kirk that advocates to identify, educate, train, and organize high school and college students to “promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”
In January 2023, Mitchell sponsored successful legislation that would set aside 150 acres of land adjacent to the Montana Veterans Home in Columbia Falls, Montana to create a State Veterans Cemetery in his district. The cemetery is open to veterans in nine Montana counties: Lincoln, Sanders, Flathead, Lake, Glacier, Toole, Pondera, Teton and Liberty counties. "These veterans deserve everything for their sacrifices," Mitchell said in a statement after the bill passed the House. "It's a great day for Flathead County, Northwest Montana and Montana as a whole."[14] The bill was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on April 18, 2023.[15] After the bill was signed into law Mitchell stated “As our community grows, one thing must never change, and that’s our commitment to the heroes who helped secure our future and freedoms.”
In February 2023, Mitchell introduced House Bill 535 that would add to state law a series of standards for financial literacy instruction in Montana public schools. The bill passed the House on a largely party-line vote in March 2023, but not before Democrats voiced concern that the bill may infringe on the constitutional authority of the Board of Public Education and the Office of Public Instruction.[16] In Committee, Montana State Superintendent of Public Schools Elsie Arntzen advocated for the bill. After nearly every House democrat opposed the bill, Mitchell blasted Democrats and stated "I didn't realize financial literacy was such a partisan issue."[17] In April 2023, the bill passed the Senate with unanimous support and in May 2023 the bill was signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte.
In February 2023, Mitchell introduced House Bill 359 which would prohibit Drag Queen Story Hour in taxpayer funded schools and libraries. Mitchell told NBC News that “the bill is intended to ensure hyper sexualized events are kept out of our taxpayer funded schools and libraries.” “Let kids be kids,” he said. “I’ve asked this question from the beginning, why do these people want to dress half naked and read books to kids? Never got a single answer.” Democrats in Montana argued the bill would affect theater performances in schools and libraries. In response, Mitchell stated “It’s not going to bar theatre in schools or libraries. Democrats have no argument for why a drag queen should be reading books half naked to kids so they make excuses to oppose the bill.” In addition to prohibiting drag story hour the bill also prohibits children from attending any sexually oriented shows in Montana and would also prohibit any sexually oriented or obscene performances on public property where children are present. The bill passed the Montana House and Senate on May 2, 2023 along party lines, and was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on May 22, 2023. This bill was ruled as being unconstitutional by federal judge, Judge Brian Morris, on Friday July 28, 2023. The judge used the language of the bill to determine that it was crafted with discriminatory intent, constituting an unconstitutional breach of freedom of speech, referencing an incident in which a transgender individual, who was not a drag performer, was blocked from speaking in an event hosted in a public library.[18]
During the 2023 Legislative session, Mitchell sponsored House Bill 162 which would give Montana hunters the option to electronically validate their hunting tags. Traditionally in Montana, hunter’s receive paper tags that are used to verify their harvest, and Mitchell’s legislation allows for the optional availability for any carcass tag to be electronically validated with a smart phone. Mitchell’s bill was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on March 16, 2023.[19]
In September 2022, Mitchell was 1 of 53 Republican Legislators to call for a special session of the Montana Legislature to discuss returning over $1.8 billion in excess tax revenue to resident homeowners who paid property taxes in the past two years, and up to $1,250 to people who paid income taxes during that time.[20] Mitchell stated "This is not a stimulus check or us printing money like we see Biden and the Democrats doing at the federal level — it’s a true returning of funds. I am sure professional politicians and Helena insiders could think of 1.8 billion reasons to spend this money elsewhere but, the fact is, it is yours. It also can help force the hand of the legislature to finally rewrite our tax system we currently have in place which is hurting our citizens and businesses. Things worth doing are hard, and voters expect us to serve them, so I’m calling on my fellow legislators to support a special session."[21]
In 2021 Mitchell supported a bill in the Montana Legislature that sought to ban transgender athletes from competing on teams that do not align with their sex at birth. He stated that "Someone gender fluid can wake up one morning and say, 'I'm a man today,' or 'I'm a woman today,' as a tactic to win in sports."[22] The bill was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on May 7, 2021.[23]
Mitchell sponsored a measure that would have made it more difficult for a private utility company in Montana to shutter a power plant, a move aimed at blocking the closing of the Colstrip coal-fired power plant in eastern Montana.[24] The measure was tabled in March 2021.[24][25] The Colstrip plant's owners, Puget Sound Energy, closed two of the four units at the plant in January 2021, and announced that the remaining two units would close within five years.[26]
In 2023 Mitchell sponsored House Bill 519 which allows for Montanan’s to obtain a digital version of their drivers license in their Apple Wallet in addition to their physical license by September 2025. During the bills first hearing Mitchell stated “This is a secure and encrypted method of holding vital information and your data is protected against tampering or theft." The Montana Motor Vehicle Division came in as proponents to the bill.[27] The bill was signed into law by Republican Governor Greg Gianforte on April 26, 2023.[28]
In 2023, Mitchell introduced legislation to legalize Jell-O shots. At the time of the bill’s introduction, Montana was 1 of only 2 states that prohibited the selling and distribution of premade Jell-O shots. In committee which featured no opponents, Mitchell said the proposal was a “freedom bill” and supporters cited that “Jell-O shots are not daily consumables but usually tailored towards events such as weddings, bachelorette parties, concerts, and tailgates.” The measure passed the Montana House of Representatives in February 2023.[29][30]
In February 2021, Mitchell introduced a resolution designating antifa as a domestic terrorism group.[31][32] Antifa-affiliated groups are not known to be active in Montana, and there were no riots in Montana during the George Floyd protests of 2020.[31] Mitchell stated "I just don’t want to go into a future where political violence becomes the norm, and I hope as a country, we can start moving away from political violence on both sides."[33]
Mitchell was asked by Montana Democrats to also designate other groups including that which stormed the United States Capitol in January 2021, but Mitchell stated that the resolution was aimed at offenses committed by antifa.[33] The resolution originally had 53 co-sponsors, but following his explanation that additional groups couldn't be added, 31 Republicans removed their names.[33] The resolution did not pass out of the House.[34]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Braxton Mitchell | 3,586 | 60.0 | |
| Democratic | Debo Powers | 2,393 | 40.0 | |
| Total votes | 5,979 | 100 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Braxton Mitchell | 2,751 | 59.0 | |
| Democratic | Andrea Getts | 1,934 | 41.0 | |
| Total votes | 4,685 | 100 | ||