U.S. House candidate holds meet-and-greet event

Donora’s Alan Bradstock is challenging incumbent Republican Guy Reschenthaler.

Donora native Alan Bradstock, who announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 14th Congressional District last month, held an event Thursday to introduce the public to himself and his campaign.

A Desert Storm veteran and former FBI agent, Bradstock, D-Connellsville, is challenging incumbent Republican Guy Reschenthaler.

The event was held at the Washington Trust Building, a former bank in downtown Washington, to kick off multiple meet and greets across the state.

Christina Proctor, chair of the Washington County Democratic Committee, welcomed everyone to the event and said Bradstock will work hard every single day until the election in November.

“Alan brings the background, the integrity and the experience that I think makes him the absolutely perfect candidate for the 14th Congressional District,” Proctor said. “It is going to take all of us. Help us win this seat back.”

More than 100 residents of various political backgrounds gathered to hear about Bradstock and talk to him.

“He is just wonderful and is a genuine person,” Washington resident Janice Gilmore said.

Beverly Dellaria of the Democratic Women’s Council of Washington, endorses Bradstock as an excellent candidate.

“I really enjoy Alan as a candidate,” 17-year-old Democrat Alex Serapiglia said. “More people need to understand the government instead of just reading headlines.”

Several Pennsylvania and Mon Valley figures were in attendance, including Chair of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party Eugene De-Pasquale, former state Rep. Leo Trich, former Washington County Commissioner Bracken Burns, other Democratic chairs, Forward Township Supervisor David Levdansky and more.

“Some of these districts are going to be hard to flip,” DePasquale said. “It’s true, it’s hard. But here’s how we know this can happen. We have a great candidate, and from the state party, we’re going to be contesting races in every single part of this commonwealth, and we can win.

“What we have to do is not only promote our candidate, not only work really hard, not only hold Guy accountable. But we’ve got to make sure we are giving people not just a reason to vote against Guy, but a reason to vote for us.”

About Bradstock

Bradstock said he wants to restore char acter, competence and civility to government, along with creating an economy that works for everyone and ensuring that every community in western Pennsylvania has a voice in Washington.

A graduate of Ringgold High School and Washington & Jefferson College, Bradstock was recently inducted into the Washington & Jefferson Athletics Hall of Fame, recognizing his outstanding achievements as a student-athlete as a basketball player and his continued contributions to the college community.

“Like my parents and all four of my grandparents, I grew up in Donora and the Mon Valley,” he said. “My dad was a postal worker, my mom stayed home. I am the grandson of a steelworker and a bricklayer.”

Following graduation, Bradstock was commissioned as a U.S. Army aviation officer. He completed the Aviation Officer Basic Course and rotary-wing flight train ing before being stationed in Germany during the historic fall of the Berlin Wall.

“I got stationed in Germany, and that’s when my life really changed,” Bradstock said. “Before that, I was just responsible for myself, and then I was responsible for leading soldiers during the Cold War. The Cold War ended, and it was a run up to Desert Storm. I deployed to Saudi Arabia on Christmas Day 35 years ago. Not a holy jolly Christmas that year for sure. I was in charge of soldiers that were afraid, and I was able to get everybody back to Germany without casualties.”

During his service, he earned a Master’s degree in International Relations from Troy State University’s overseas program.

After serving honorably in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot and deploying to Operation Desert Storm, he came back to Donora. He spent 20 years with the FBI and later as a contractor supporting the U.S. intelligence community. He also worked as a KPMG auditor and indepen- dent financial adviser. At the FBI and at Quantico, he complet ed new agent training before beginning assignments in Las Cruces, N.M., where he

investigated drug trafficking, public cor ruption, kidnappings and violent crime.

Rising through the bureau, Bradstock be came a supervisor in the Counterterrorism Division, where he coordinated terrorism financing operations at CIA headquarters and later oversaw joint terrorism and drug investigations at the DEA’s Special Operations Division.

In Louisville, Ky., he led the division’s effort to integrate intelligence with law enforcement operations, strengthening both public safety and national security.

Bradstock also served abroad as deputy legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, working closely with Canadian law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

Beyond his public service, Bradstock built a successful private-sector career. He worked as an auditor for KPMG, later as an independent financial adviser and sup ported the U.S. intelligence community as a contractor specializing in budget, strategy and program management.

The father of three children with his wife Kara, including a son who is transgender, he said his campaign will prioritize strengthening the working class economy, supporting veterans, protecting Social Security and Medicare and defending the rights and freedoms of every Pennsylvanian.

“I retired the first month I was eligible because my son needed us. He was beginning his journey of being transgender and he was suffering with depression,” Brad stock said. “We were able to get comfortable with making the decision to allow him to transition and to give parental consent. He began to thrive, and he continues to thrive today.

“It breaks my heart that so many trans kids today and their families are unable to get the care that we were able to get 10 years ago. Trans rights are human rights, and I will stand with the LGBTQ commu nity.” Bradstock said he came back to the area to spend time with his parents because they were getting older. His mother died three years ago, and they wanted to spend time with his father, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia.

“He struggles to speak now, but the desperation in the hug tells me all I need to know now, and I got one of those today,” he added. “It still breaks my heart when I leave, every time.”

Bradstock said he’s running because he felt compelled to serve the country again. Since he did it twice before, he said this is his “most important mission,” and everything in his life has led him to doing this.

Bradstock added that he is worried about the workforce, trust with international allies and division in the country.

“It doesn’t have to be this divided. I want to be part of making it better,” he said.”I am also running because I believe our district deserves a representative that wants to represent everybody, and is actually here. I’m from here, I keep coming back here, I care about here.

“I will focus on affordability, fight for the economy for working families and small businesses and access to affordable healthcare. We need leaders guided by facts, informed by analysis and willing to listen to different perspectives.”

A friend for more than 40 years, Mike Burroughs said Bradstock is running a grassroots campaign built on hard work,

and people believing in Bradstock and what Bradstock believes in.

“Your support this evening means a great deal to this campaign,” Burroughs said. “He is a man of deep integrity, he has strong values and perhaps, most importantly, he is genuinely authentic. He has dedicated his entire life to public service. He is truly a man of the people.”

For more information about Bradstock, visit www.BradstockForCongress.com or

follow the campaign on Facebook at @ BradstockForCongress.