Dad who exposed woke infiltration at NYC’s elite Brearley School running for Congress in Florida
A former New York City resident who famously exposed woke manias at his daughter’s elite Manhattan private school is running for Congress in his new home state of Florida.
Andrew Gutmann, 47, roiled the exclusive Brearley School with a scalding letter to parents in 2021, and will now seek office as a Republican in Palm Beach County’s District 22.
“I wrote that letter to my fellow parents at Brearley out of a sense of duty,” Gutmann said of his decision. “Now I run for Congress out of the same sense of duty.”
The “political refugee” argued that slowing the woke infiltration of American institutions will require far greater political representation than currently exists — hence his decision to run.
“Very few of our national leaders or even state leaders understand that this is a fight for our fundamental values and for Western civilization,” he said. “We need people in federal government who can speak to these issues.”
Gutmann’s missive ignited a firestorm at the Upper East Side institution, accusing administrators of poisoning a once-robust curriculum with “vacuous” progressive agendas.
Brearley, which charges more than $58,000 a year in tuition, has educated the daughters of Chelsea Clinton, Drew Barrymore and Tina Fey and boasts a long list of notable alumna dating back to its founding in 1884.
Gutmann’s piece, which was eventually posted to commentator Bari Weiss’ Substack page, charged Brearley’s leadership with meekly capitulating to woke staffers.
“The administration and the Board of Trustees have displayed a cowardly and appalling lack of leadership by appeasing an anti-intellectual, illiberal mob and then allowing the school to be captured by that same mob,” Gutmann wrote.
School leadership ripped the letter as “deeply offensive and harmful” at the time while opposing parents scolded Gutmann for failing to appreciate the nobility of their progressive positions.
He eventually pulled his daughter from Brearley and moved his family to South Florida.
“It’s night and day,” Gutmann told The Post of his new base. “It’s the free state of Florida — and it really does feel that way.”
The recuperating Manhattanite asserted that Floridians freely exchange opposing political viewpoints without fear of vilification, cancellation or worse.
“You actually have a diverse political population here that you don’t have in New York,” he said. “There is an openness.”
Gutmann said he was urged to consider political office in the wake of the Brearley uproar and has since familiarized himself with the mechanics of running a campaign.
A former analyst for the Federal Reserve, he has been touting his finance and tech sector experience to potential donors and influential backers.
If successful, Gutmann would operate from one of the nation’s fastest-growing financial hubs in booming Palm Beach County.
“This is a fight we must win, and Americans are desperate for political leaders who understand what is at stake,” he said.
