Lawrence West has spent his entire adult life fighting for what he knew was right.
Growing up in the Mt. Airy section of Philadelphia, Lawrence (who his friends know as Larry) went to St. Therese School and then Cardinal Dougherty High School. Raised by his mother and grandmother, he grew up learning about the importance of manners, citizenship, and how to treat people with respect, as well as what it means to earn respect.
Lawrence's life was also filled with struggles. At the age of 16 he was robbed on the street for the 3rd time. After the police caught the person, another teenager about his age, the court asked Lawrence what he wanted to see happen to the person who attacked him. He asked that the person was given community service, "to clean up the neighborhood he had hurt." A decade later that young man thanked Lawrence for giving him a new lease on life as he now had a job, a wife, and kids.
While in college, at the age of 20, Lawrence lost his mother. Despite this, he went on to finish college at Hussian School of Art and was awarded the Ruth and Bernard Petlock Award for his artistic achievement. Lawrence West was the first in his family to graduate college.
In 2007 he would run for Mayor of Philadelphia on a platform of reform and progressive ideals. While he may have been unsuccessful in that pursuit, he was able to draw attention to the issues facing the youth of Philadelphia at the time.
Lawrence would spend the next 10 years as a dedicated activist. In 2011 he worked with Occupy Philadelphia protesting rising income inequality across the nation and demanding reforms and controls on our capitalistic system. In 2013 he helped organize Restore the Fourth, a group dedicated to ensuring that the U.S. Government wasn't overstepping its spying powers on Americans.
In 2014, after becoming a Republican in 2012 to vote for Ron Paul, Lawrence became a Republican Committee Member for the 22nd Ward 26th Division. During his time in office he has worked to address the concerns of his neighbors from literally cleaning up the neighborhood with a broom and dustpan to reporting broken lights and helping to report crimes and suspicious activity.
After the election of Donald Trump, Lawrence would go on to speak truth to power about what he had seen from the people in his division. In a letter to his party he pointed out that he had constituents that needed to be consoled and friends who were the victims of racially motivated attacks. He demanded more outreach by the party to the residents of Philadelphia to help with the backlash.
Lawrence West was the only committee person of any party to testify at City Hall at hearings against the Sugary Drink Tax and renewing the Comcast agreement. He voiced his concerns that the "Soda Tax" would disproportionately hurt the poorest in Philadelphia, a sentiment that would be echoed by even Bernie Sanders. He's written in favor of stopping "Stop-and-Go's" with measures from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, while taking issue with the local provisions of banning Plexiglass barriers.
In 2017 Lawrence went on to run, and win, his election for Minority Inspector of Elections. He has worked to move the polling place of the 22nd Ward 26th Division back to a place closer to its residents.
As a Republican, Lawrence West sees the need for the party to return to the days of Dwight Eisenhower, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. With a platform focused on helping the middle class and conserving the environment, he sees himself as a reformer working from within who has always stood for what was right, even if it wasn't popular with his party. He has vowed to put his country first.
As a member of the U.S. Congress, Lawrence West hopes to improve the lives of everyone in his district. "If we can improve the lives of those who live in this District, from the upper-crust in Chestnut Hill to those who have the most opportunity for growth in Nicetown, we will improve the quality of life for everyone in this country! What's good for the 3rd District is good for America!"