Ben Braver

Ben Braver was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned a high school diploma from King High School and a bachelor's degree from the University of South Florida in 2023. His career experience includes working as a science teacher.[1][2]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Ben Braver is a science teacher running to be South Tampa and Westchase’s State House Representative. Braver is focussed on the people first and is fighting the blatant corruption and waste coming out of Tallahassee.

Ben grew up in Tampa graduating from King High School and the University of South Florida with a degree in economics (Go Bulls). Braver interned for Congresswoman Castor, acted as the Director of State Policy for the Young Democrats of America, and taught at title one schools throughout Tampa Bay. His policy is based on his experience working with young families in need and evidence based practices that foster growth in our economy and healthier, safer communities.

The motto of this campaign is simple: Be Braver. Corporate lobbyists, party leaders, and big money donors have forced your “leaders” to toe the line, and it’s time to stand up, it’s time to Be Braver.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

As a teacher, Ben Braver is primarily focused on our criminally mismanaged and underfunded education system. Florida has the 50th lowest wages for teachers in the entire country leading to huge teacher vacancies and uneducated kids. Our kids deserve the very best teachers with every opportunity to succeed regardless of which school zone they’re born into.

Braver will fight to bring teacher & support staff wages up to the national average, as well as hiring more school psychologists to support our student’s mental health.Affordability is the magic word this election cycle, and the main reason our economy is unaffordable is because monopolies and big business have taken over our free markets. Whether it’s Real Estate, Insurance, or Energy, prices have consistently gone up as private equity firms have bought up the market.

Braver will cap the number of homes Private Equity firms can buy and enforce the building of affordable housing, not just luxury. Ben will fully fund and expand our public Health and Home insurance options to cover the residents being priced out of Florida and save us all money. And Braver will make the regulators who oversee the insurance and energy rates elected rather than appointed so the people have more control over their bills.People don’t feel represented by their “representatives”. And there’s a very good reason for this: We all literally are less represented. We have had the same number of legislators in Florida since 1968 when there were only 6 million people in Florida. Today we have 4 times that number and so you have 1/4th the representation.

Ben Braver will expand the State House so districts are smaller and you become closer to your representative than corporate lobbyists.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

For:

Small Businesses

Affordable Housing & Healthcare

Teacher Raises

Solar Energy

Mass transit

Paid Family Leave

Earned Income Tax Credits

Against:

Expensive Insurance

Government Waste

Overdevelopment

Ice Raids

Lobby money

Congested Traffic

AI Data Centers

Destroying Parks

Utility Rate Hikes

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Ben Braver is a middle school teacher in Hillsborough county and a proud member of the teacher's union. He graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelors of Arts in Economics and from King High School with an International Baccalaureate diploma.

Ben has always fought for personal freedoms and against corporate and government overreach. He believes a free market with strong competition is essential for our state to prosper.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Venture capitalists and monopolistic landlords have priced the citizens of Florida out of our state. Hardworking people can no longer afford a home and families are struggling under the weight of the artificially inflated prices.

Our Government needs to ensure that the housing market remains free, not domineered by big business. Anti-trust policies and fully funding the Sadowski fund is the best way to keep Florida in the communities hands.The citizens of Florida are tired of spending hundreds of hours in traffic, worsening water quality, and poor roads. With 8,000 new residents coming in weekly we know these problems will just get worse. The good news is it doesn't have to.

Our old legislators refused to plan for the future. We can do so by building safe, reliable, public transportation to walkable spaces. These solutions serve as an alternative to cars and will reduce traffic. Efficient development, rather than urban sprawl, reduces water use and infrastructure costs. More light rail will boost the economies of every community it touches.We must allow our next generation to reach their full potential. The great state of Florida can afford to give our kids an exemplary education system. I will advocate to:

Reduce class sizes - Extreme class sizes devastate a child’s access to education. You cannot teach a class of 40 kids in 40 minutes.

Increase teacher’s salaries - There are 5,000 teacher vacancies throughout Florida because the state pays the 50th worst salary in the country.

Stop our over reliance on testing - Most of the school year is taken up by test preparation. Testing is not teaching, and our children can not be reduced to a single test outcome.

End privatization - The Florida legislature is selling our kids' futures to the lowest bidder, hurting everyone.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am deeply passionate about Government Accountability. Throughout my entire life politics has been used as a megaphone for the most extreme and most corrupt voices. Our politicians should answer to the people, not their corporate donors. And they need to be held accountable when they advocate for policies that hurt us.

Supporting the economy and access to basic human needs is the government's primary responsibility. I am passionate about using the government to help those who fell into poverty get back on their feet, and protecting our basic freedoms to be safe, prosperous, and secure.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Integrity, Open-Mindedness, Critical Thinking, and Compassion. As long as an official has these qualities they will be able to make a choice that benefits the people, not just themselves.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To represent the interests of the people. The job of a legislator is to create policies that benefit the people of their district.

Hearing from and understanding their constituents, local organizations and businesses is the legislator's best tool to speak for the people. Hearing from the people must be a priority for every representative.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Summer Camp Counselor at my Jewish camp for 2 summers.

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

One with mutual respect of leaders working for the good of their constituents.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

The lack of planning for our growth. The previous government officials advocated against investing in our communities and allowed people to get priced out of the market. Florida has grown but with inefficient infrastructure we can't afford to maintain. We can fix these problems by taking back control of our state and investing in the people.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Yes, I think that our legislators should be able to represent all people. Some will have institutional experience and some will come with the experience of a teacher, a firefighter or manager. The legislature should be composed of people who are experienced and people who can bring new perspectives to the table.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Yes, we all come with the interest of our voters in hand and good legislation will encompass all of our needs.

What committees interest you?

Appropriations Committee on Education,

Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development,

Education Pre-K - 12,

Education Postsecondary,

Fiscal Policy,

Transportation

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Every dollar a candidate receives should be easily and readily available. We give up a certain amount of privacy to have legislative power in our public life.