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Gregory J. Brannon (born August 17, 1960) is an American physician and political activist. A native of Los Angeles, California, Brannon is a graduate of the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...
and
Chicago Medical School The Chicago Medical School (CMS) is a medical school located in North Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is one of the graduate schools of Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS). It was founded in 1912 and obtained a ...
. After completing his residency, Brannon established a private obstetrics practice in Cary,
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...
. An ally of the
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
, Brannon unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for
U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...
in the
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and the
2016 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...
. He came in second place both times, losing the 2014 race to
Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis (born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. A Republican, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, and began se ...
and the 2016 race to
Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who is the senior United States senator from North Carolina, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the Unite ...
.


Early life and education

Brannon was born in
Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 107,762. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. The city is in the South Bay ...
, on August 17, 1960.Brannon again sets goal, this time for US Senate
Associated Press (March 30, 2014).
Brannon was raised by a single mother in the suburbs of Los Angeles. Brannon received his bachelor's degree from the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...
in 1982, his medical degree from Chicago Medical School in 1988, and completed his residency at University of Southern California Women's Hospital, Los Angeles, in 1992.


Medical and business career

After completing his residency, Brannon served as assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at
University of North Carolina School of Medicine The University of North Carolina School of Medicine is a professional school within the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. It offers a Doctor of Medicine degree along with combined Doctor of Medicine / Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of M ...
, with work at Wake Area Health Education Center. He is an ob-gyn in
Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake and Chatham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh–Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 Census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest muni ...
,Gary D. Robertson
NC Supreme Court upholds civil judgment against Brannon
Associated Press (May 10, 2019).
having entered private practice in 1993. In February 2014, a jury determined, in a civil case, that Brannon made false and misleading statements to potential investors of a technology company, which later went out of business. Brannon, who was a board member of the company, Neogence Enterprises, and was ordered to pay $250,000 to the investors, plus $132,000 in attorney fees and court costs. The jury verdict damaged Brannon's 2014 primary campaign for the U.S. Senate. The civil judgment against Brannon was upheld by the
North Carolina Court of Appeals The North Carolina Court of Appeals (in case citation, N.C. Ct. App.) is the only intermediate appellate court in the state of North Carolina. It is composed of fifteen members who sit in rotating panels of three. The Court of Appeals was created ...
in 2016 and by the
North Carolina Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of North Carolina is the state of North Carolina's highest appellate court. Until the creation of the North Carolina Court of Appeals in the 1960s, it was the state's only appellate court. The Supreme Court consis ...
in 2019.


Political activism

A staunch critic of President
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...
, Brannon was an early leader in the
Tea Party movement The Tea Party movement was an American fiscally conservative political movement within the Republican Party that began in 2009. Members of the movement called for lower taxes and for a reduction of the national debt and federal budget defic ...
in North Carolina. Brannon is strongly anti-abortion. He opposes the
Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Pres ...
, asserting that the law "attacks the fabric" of constitutional rights, and favors a largely unregulated health care market. He supports a return to the
gold standard A gold standard is a Backed currency, monetary system in which the standard economics, economic unit of account is based on a fixed quantity of gold. The gold standard was the basis for the international monetary system from the 1870s to the ...
and a phase-out of
Social Security Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
. In 2012, Brannon urged a vote for a third-party president candidate over Republican nominee
Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American politician, businessman, and lawyer serving as the junior United States senator from Utah since January 2019, succeeding Orrin Hatch. He served as the 70th governor of Massachusett ...
, asserting that "Casting a vote for either Obama or Romney will advance tyranny since both candidates are committed statists who despise the Constitution."Jim Morill
GOP hopeful said vote for Mitt Romney was vote for 'tyranny'
''Charlotte Observer'' (March 10, 2014).
Brannon's comments garnered scrutiny in his 2014 Republican primary campaign. During his 2016 primary campaign, Brannon said he would work to abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), asserting that the agency was unconstitutional; during his campaign, Brannon acknowledged that he owed $175,000 in tax debt to the agency.


2014 U.S. Senate campaign

In 2013, Brannon announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate to challenge incumbent
Kay Hagan Janet Kay Hagan (née Ruthven; May 26, 1953 – October 28, 2019) was an American lawyer, banking executive, and politician who served as a United States Senator from North Carolina from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, she previo ...
. He won the endorsements of
FreedomWorks FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representa ...
, U.S. Senators
Mike Lee Michael Shumway Lee (born June 4, 1971) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Utah, a seat he has held since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. Lee began his career as a clerk for the U ...
and
Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12 ...
, and RedState's Erick Erickson. Brannon lost the primary to
Thom Tillis Thomas Roland Tillis (born August 30, 1960) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from North Carolina since 2015. A Republican, he was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives in 2006, and began se ...
, the speaker of the state House.North Carolina Primary Election Results
''New York Times'' (2014).
Tillis received about 46% of the vote, Brannon about 27%, and Baptist pastor Mark Harris about 17.5%.


2016 U.S. Senate campaign

In December 2015, Brannon announced he would again run for the U.S. Senate in the
2016 election The following elections occurred in the year 2016. Africa Benin Republic *2016 Beninese presidential election 6 March 2016 Cape Verde * 2016 Cape Verdean presidential election 2 October 2016 Chad * 2016 Chadian presidential election 10 A ...
, challenging incumbent U.S. Senator
Richard Burr Richard Mauze Burr (born November 30, 1955) is an American businessman and politician who is the senior United States senator from North Carolina, serving since 2005. A member of the Republican Party, Burr was previously a member of the Unite ...
in the Republican primary. He lost to Burr in the 2016 Republican primary. Burr received about 61% of the vote, while Brannon received about 25%.North Carolina Primary Results
''New York Times'' (2016).
Brannon later launched a weekly
conservative talk radio Conservative talk radio is a talk radio format in the United States and other countries devoted to expressing conservative viewpoints of issues, as opposed to progressive talk radio. The definition of conservative talk is generally broad enough ...
show.


Personal life

Brannon and his wife, Jody, have 7 children, three of whom are adopted. As a young adult, Brannon became an
evangelical Christian Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brannon, Greg 1960 births Living people 20th-century American physicians 20th-century Christians 21st-century American physicians 21st-century Christians Activists from California Activists from North Carolina American Christians American gun rights activists American libertarians American political candidates American radio hosts Homeschooling advocates Monetary reformers Non-interventionism North Carolina Republicans People from Los Angeles Physicians from North Carolina Tea Party movement activists University of Southern California alumni