Brandon Cavanaugh

WARSAW — Brandon Cavanaugh, a local teacher and US Army veteran, recently announced his candidacy for District 9 State Senate.

Cavanaugh is an educator with Warsaw Community Schools and is a member of the teacher’s association. He has worked for Gateway Education Center for three years. In his first year at Gateway, Cavanaugh worked as a functional skills teacher. He currently helps seventh through ninth graders in Gateway’s middle school alternative learning program. Before starting his career in education, he served in the U.S. military and was deployed to Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013.

Cavanaugh would face incumbent Republican State Sen. Ryan Mishler in the general election.

Cavanaugh’s time in the military gave him the experience that will benefit the cities and towns in District 9 that includes Kosciusko, Elkhart, Marshall and St. Joseph counties. As a state senator, Cavanaugh will represent the citizens of District 9 based on the U.S. Army’s 11 principles of leadership.

Among those principles are self-improvement, technical proficiency and accountability. As a state senator, Cavanaugh will set the example, know his constituents on a first-name basis and most importantly look out for their welfare. Cavanaugh will also keep his constituents informed by holding a town hall meeting after each legislative session in each of the four counties of the 9th district.

“I will be fighting for every individual,” said Cavanaugh. “Helping struggling families, that has been a passion of mine for the past 10 years.”

As a teacher, Cavanaugh understands that the future of Indiana and the country depends on the education of all students. Building a strong community and state starts with what matters the most: people. Cavanaugh said he understands that public education needs to be adequately funded in order to keep communities strong.

“Teachers need to have a voice,” said Cavanaugh. “We are battered by legislators, funding has been slashed and iLEARN has greatly affected schools and teachers. Not only do I advocate for higher teacher pay; I also find it important to reassess the effectiveness of iLEARN and respect teachers overall.”

For more information, visit cavanaugh4senate.com.