Christopher A. Brown (born August 3, 1964) is an American Republican Party politician who represented the 2nd Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate from January 9, 2018, to July 19, 2021, when he left office to accept a position with the

New Jersey Department of Community Affairs The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs is a governmental agency of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The department is headed by Commissioner Sheila Oliver, who is also serving as lieutenant governor of New Jersey. Function The NJDCA prov ...

. He previously served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

from January 10, 2012, to January 9, 2018. He is a veteran of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

Early life

Brown was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey in 1964. He earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

in 1987, and after graduation was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

. He served in the Army during the Gulf War, attached to the 82nd Airborne Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and

Combat Infantryman Badge The Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB) is a United States Army military decoration. The badge is awarded to infantrymen and Special Forces soldiers in the rank of colonel and below, who fought in active ground combat while assigned as members of e ...

for his service in the ground offensive in Iraq. He received a J.D. degree from

Widener University School of Law Widener University Delaware Law School (Delaware Law School and formerly Widener University School of Law) is a private law school in Wilmington, Delaware. It is one of two separate ABA-accredited law schools of Widener University. Widener Un ...

in 1991. In 1991–1992, Brown interned with L. Anthony Gibson, Presiding Judge of the Chancery Division of the

New Jersey Superior Court The Superior Court is the state court in the U.S. state of New Jersey, with statewide trial and appellate jurisdiction. The New Jersey Constitution of 1947 establishes the power of the New Jersey courts.Jeffrey S. Mandel, New Jersey Appellate Pr ...

for

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and

Cape May Cape May consists of a peninsula and barrier island system in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is roughly coterminous with Cape May County and runs southwards from the New Jersey mainland, separating Delaware Bay from the Atlantic Ocean. The so ...

Counties. In 1992–1993, he clerked for Superior Court Judge Charles R. Previti. He is board certified by the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases challenging th ...

as a civil trial attorney and has been admitted to the bar in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has served as the Prosecutor of

Egg Harbor Township Egg Harbor Township is a township in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The U.S. Census Bureau in the 2020 census reported the population as 47,842, an increase of 4,519 over the 43,323 counted in the previous decade in the 201 ...

, Solicitor for the Atlantic City Council, Solicitor for the Atlantic City Board of Education and Assistant Solicitor for Egg Harbor Township. In 2008, Brown was called up for service in the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror , image ...

and spent three months preparing to deploy to Iraq. However, the Army determined that it had made a mistake in activating him, and he was sent home, receiving an honorable discharge. Brown is a resident of

Ventnor City, New Jersey Ventnor City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 9,210, a decrease of 1,440 in the preceding decade.General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presb ...

representing the 2nd District, filling the seat of Vincent J. Polistina, who left the Assembly in an unsuccessful bid for the New Jersey Senate, running against incumbent

Jim Whelan Jim Whelan (November 8, 1948 – August 22, 2017) was an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate where he represented the 2nd Legislative District, from January 8, 2008, until his death. Early life Whela ...

. Brown and his running mate John F. Amodeo defeated the Democratic candidates, Alisa Cooper and Damon Tyner. He was sworn in on January 10, 2012. In the Assembly he served as Assistant Republican Leader from January 12, 2016, to January 9, 2018.

Committees

*Consumer Affairs *Tourism and the Arts *Regulatory Oversight *Tourism and Gaming

New Jersey Senate

After incumbent senator Jim Whelen's death on August 22, 2017, Democrat Colin Bell was unanimously selected to fill the remainder of Whelan's senate term and took office, making him the incumbent senator going into the November 2017 general election. In one of the most expensive of the 120 legislative races in the 2017 election, in which $4.6 million was spent, Brown defeated Bell by a 54%-46% margin, taking a Senate seat that had been held by Democrats since 2008 and giving the Republicans their only Senate seat that changed parties, in an election that had many major victories for the Democratic Party across the state. In the Senate, Brown has served as Deputy Conference Leader since January 9, 2018.

Committees

*Joint Committee on Economic Justice and Equal Payment *Higher Education *State Government, Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation

Electoral history

New Jersey Senate

Assembly

Brown was elected to the Assembly in 2011 Brown was re-elected in 2013, then again in 2015.

References

External links

Assemblyman Chris A. Brown's legislative web page
New Jersey Legislature *''New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms''
201620152014201320122011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Chris A. 1964 births United States Army personnel of the Gulf War Living people Republican Party New Jersey state senators New Jersey lawyers Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Politicians from Atlantic City, New Jersey People from Ventnor City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni United States Army soldiers Widener University alumni 21st-century American politicians 20th-century American lawyers