Brady Middleton
From Pain to Purpose
I'm a job creator, inventor, and violent-crime survivor who chose forgiveness over resentment — and I'm running to give West Michigan families safer streets and a government that answers to them.
Brady A. Middleton is a West Michigan native, manufacturing and technology entrepreneur, inventor, and candidate for Michigan State Senate in the 29th District. He graduated from Grand Valley State University with a B.S. in Political Science, with an emphasis on quantitative and statistical analysis.
Brady is the co-founder of Metas — a leading American manufacturing and technology company established in 2016, named one of Michigan's Top 50 Businesses to Watch in 2019, recognized as The World's Greatest Label Company, and featured on Bloomberg. He holds patents granted in the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Indonesia, and India, with additional patents pending in more than 20 countries.
Brady grew up around Middleton Printing & Label, the family business founded in 1960 and rooted in Wyoming for nearly 70 years. As a third-generation member of the business, he learned that jobs are personal, every dollar matters, and a family name only means something when the work behind it can be trusted.
A Second Chance — For Both of Us
In 2009, just two weeks after high school graduation, Brady was the victim of a violent assault in Grand Rapids that cost him his college basketball scholarship and left him with a traumatic brain injury. He chose forgiveness over resentment, becoming a mentor to the youngest of his attackers — a 13-year-old boy named Marcellus — who went on to graduate high school.
"I was pistol-whipped, robbed, carjacked, kidnapped, forced to my knees, and told I was going to be killed. Instead of staying bitter, I spent five years mentoring my 13-year-old attacker until he graduated high school. That experience taught me redemption is possible — but only when justice actually works for victims, families, and taxpayers alike."
That story of redemption — covered by the Grand Rapids Press, the Daily Mail (UK), the Detroit Free Press, the Associated Press, and hundreds of outlets around the globe — is the foundation of his campaign: bridging the divide, restoring accountability, and fighting for restitution on behalf of Michigan families.
His Story In The Press
August 2014
The amazing road to forgiveness taken by man, 24, who was beaten and robbed — and is now mentor and close friend to one of his assailants
Read the story →August 25, 2014
Assault victim befriends attacker, becomes mentor
Read the story →West Michigan
Beating victim, perpetrator stand as example of restorative justice
Read the story →Results Before Politics
Brady helped deliver criminal justice reform in Michigan under Governor Snyder and worked with federal reform efforts that were ultimately signed into law. Now he's running to finish the job — putting victims and taxpayers first.
As a job creator and reformer, Brady understands what Michigan families need: safer streets, better schools, real economic opportunity, and reliable, affordable energy. He's ready to bridge the political divide in Lansing and restore West Michigan's greatness.
