Tony Labranche (C’25) was 10 years old when he was diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer.
At the time, Labranche was living in a trailer park with his mom. Already struggling to make ends meet, Labranche’s experience with the high costs of medical care ignited a spark.
“When we saw Tylenol in the bill and how they were charging $40 per pill, it was clear that somebody was making money off of my suffering,” said Labranche, who is now cancer-free. “That was a profound injustice in the world and led me to be engaged in politics.”
That spark carried him through his senior year of high school, when he was a few hundred votes shy of winning a seat on his local school board. His loss strengthened his resolve to be a young voice for change, so he set his sights on something bigger — and won.
In December 2020, at the age of 18, Labranche was sworn in on a football field as a member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, one of the youngest representatives in the chamber’s history. As a legislator, he introduced multiple bills in the House in his two years in office and worked across the aisle to serve constituents in New Hampshire.
As a soon-to-be Georgetown alumnus, he plans to continue his advocacy for young people in elected office as he continues his career in public service.
Running for Office
Throughout his life, Labranche felt underestimated and ignored.
When he ran for school board, he remembers another school board member saying, “What does he know? He’s just a boy.”
When he was in the House, he remembers some legislators didn’t take him seriously because of his age.
He also endured harassment and discrimination for being young and part of the LGBTQ community. The harassment forced his mother to move out of town, Labranche said, leaving him homeless and couch-surfing between friends’ homes while serving.
At the same time, he only earned a $100 annual salary in the legislature, so he had to work part-time at Bath & Body Works and for the City of Nashua. In his off-hours, he attended community college to stay on track with his education.
Despite these challenges, Labranche persisted in serving his constituents.
He said he introduced over 30 bills to the chamber in his term — eight of which have passed in the House. He also reached across the aisle to work with Republicans on many pieces of legislation.
“People focus too much on their differences and not on their commonalities. If you want anything to pass that’s yours, you need to work with the [other side,]” he said. “People are always surprised when I say that some of my best friends in the House are Republicans. I cherish those relationships to this day,” he said.
Labranche elevated the voices of young people in his role too. He introduced a bill mandating that every school board have a student representative. Despite being a Democratic lawmaker, Labranche won the support of the Republican majority in the state House and Senate. In 2022, then-Republican Governor Chris Sununu signed the bill into law.
Getting to the Root of Social Issues
Labranche returned to school full-time after serving one term in the House. He transferred to Georgetown in fall 2023 for its Washington, DC, location and the opportunity to engage with experts across different fields, ideologies and backgrounds. He’s been to events featuring Boris Johnson, former Vice President Mike Pence, Marianne Williamson, Senator Tim Scott and former Ambassador Nikki Haley.
As a former representative who wants to return to public office, Labranche is often asked why he studies sociology instead of government or international relations. Instead of studying the politics behind societal issues, Labranche is drawn to the root causes behind the issues he advocated for in the House.
“Getting to the heart of the issues and studying society and why we do the things we do is much more of a concern to me,” he said. “Sociology is a much broader exploration of what other societies do, what we do and why we do it. It’s not necessarily tunnel-visioned in a specific way of thinking.”
On top of his coursework, Labranche has spent his free time picking his professors’ brains and conducting personal sociology experiments. This semester, Labranche has done ride-alongs with DC police officers to understand how law enforcement view the communities they serve.
In another project, Labranche is exploring his passion for public transit and comparing transit systems around the world. He prides himself on having experienced public transportation in not only American cities like DC and New York but also Montreal, Paris, Florence, Barcelona and other cities.
“Sometimes, I just ride the Metro buses for fun and see where they take me,” he said. “Those personal outings are just for fun, but I get to see how car-based development hinders accessible public transportation for many people.”
For his senior thesis, Labranche studied why young people run for office to better understand the topic he’s most passionate about. He’s interviewed young people who have served, are serving or ran for office in the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
Through his research, Labranche discovered how adversity was a common thread that pushed young people to run for public office, similar to how his experience with cancer inspired him to get involved.
At Georgetown, he’s encouraged his classmates to run for office. In the last few years, he’s proud of having convinced several young people from New Hampshire to run.
“I always tell people if you’re not doing it, somebody less qualified is probably doing it for you. So if you want good representation, you’ve got to do it yourself,” he said. “We need more good people in office. That’s where I’ve focused my effort, recruiting good candidates for whatever position there is.”
A Future of Public Service
Labranche has dreamed about going back to the New Hampshire House of Representatives.
He’s kept in touch with his fellow representatives in the House, some of whom have visited him at Georgetown. He also watches House sessions online for fun to keep up with his former colleagues and the state legislature proceedings.
Labranche has used his time at Georgetown to prepare himself to return home and serve again.
After graduation, Labranche will return to New Hampshire to study for the LSAT. He wants to serve in the House as a representative again while working as a lawyer or professor.
He hopes more young people will join him.
“The amount of people who are there for good reasons is too small. They need all the help they can get, which is why I try to encourage everybody to run,” he said. “The cards I was dealt with in life — with cancer, being gay, the son of immigrants and lower income — are what drove me to be a civically engaged individual and wanting to change society so people don’t struggle as much as I or my family had to deal with.”
