Presidential Candiate John Kasich, Owen Brigner, State Rep Tony Burkley
A young man who attends Wayne Trace High School was noticed with Ohio Governor John Kasich recently. Owen Brigner, who also happens to be the sophomore class president, has helped with John Kasich in his election campaign for President.
I asked Owen what made him interested in politics. “Mitt Romney came to Defiance running against Barak Obama and I got to meet John Kasich who was also there for Romney. It was the first time I really felt like it was something I wanted to be involved in.” It all began on October 25, 2012.
Since then, 16 year old Owen has participated in numerous events. He met State Rep. Tony Burkley while taking a tour of the State House in Columbus several months later in February 2013. He also met Governor Kasich again while there and went to his office at the state house.
This alone can’t make someone want to run for an election. Politics is a complex and difficult subject especially in election years like this. Owen believes this could be his calling. He intends to major in Political Science in college.
There has been many more times that he has met Governor Kasich, not to mention having a short time dating with the governor’s daughter, Reese. They still are good friends texting and calling each other.
During this time, there were other rallies that Owen attended including the 2013 Governor’s State of the State in Lima, 2014 State of the in Medina’s and this past year’s 2015 State of the State in Wilmington.
Recently, Owen worked at the phone Bank for Kasich’s selection campaign at the Republican Headquarters in Columbus.
Campaign meeting in Wisconsin.
So what do you think of this year’s election? Many are thinking that John Kasich is the only one that seems civilized in the Republican race. A couple weeks ago the primary took place in Wisconsin and Tony Burkley and Owen travelled up to the “Forward” state to go door to door and promote the Kasich for president.
In Burlington, after meeting with potential voters, they had a round table discussion directing the campaign and having Owen participate with the governor and his advisors. He also was there for the interview between the candidate and George Stephanopoulos.
Three days after he got his license he was up and driving to Michigan to pick up a stack of signs for Kasich.
Owen’s parents are Wes and Tracy Brigner and he has a younger sister, Madilyn, who is also a student at Wayne Trace. He also has grandparents in Paulding County – Mary and Jerry Price, and Mac and Deb Brigner.
Owen already has great insight into the political process and he will be a great asset now and in the future for the state and the country. It’s great to see such a young person involved in so many ways!
