Marcus Brandon is a politician from Greensboro, North Carolina who served in the

North Carolina House of Representatives The North Carolina House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the North Carolina General Assembly. The House is a 120-member body led by a Speaker of the House, who holds powers similar to those of the President pro-tem in the North Ca ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he represented the 60th district from January 2011 through the end of 2014. In 2015, Brandon became the executive director o
NorthCarolinaCan
a nonprofit education policy and advocacy organization.

Early life and career

A lifelong resident of Guilford County, North Carolina, Brandon graduated from

Southern Guilford High School Southern Guilford High School was founded in 1970 in the Sumner area of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. For the 2014–2015 school year, Southern had an enrollment of 1220 in grades 9–12, and 70 teachers. The school's cu ...

, class of 1993. He went on to attend North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (NC A&T) where he majored in political science. Brandon is a political consultant by profession. He worked for NGP Software, a supplier of campaign software, and later served as national finance director for Dennis Kucinich's 2008 presidential campaign.

Political career

North Carolina's 60th state house district includes parts of Greensboro, High Point and Pleasant Garden. Brandon challenged four-term incumbent Rep. Earl Jones in the Democratic primary held on May 4, 2010 and defeated him by 60% to 40%. The district is majority

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and heavily Democratic; in the 2010 general election Brandon, who is African-American, defeated his Republican opponent by a wide margin, taking 70% of the vote. He took office in January 2011. In 2012, he again faced Earl Jones, who ran to reclaim his former seat. In the Democratic primary held on May 8, 2012, Brandon defeated Jones by 66% to 34%. He was unchallenged in the 2012 general election on November 6, 2012. Brandon was named one of "12 State Legislators to Watch in 2014" by Governing.com. Brandon ran for the House seat vacated by former Congressman Mel Watt but lost the Democratic primary to

Alma Adams Alma Shealey Adams (born May 27, 1946) is an American politician who represents North Carolina's 12th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives. A Democrat, Adams represented the state's 58th House district in Guilford ...

Personal

Brandon is openly gay. He was the only openly

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

member of the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, State government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

during his term.

Electoral history

2014

2012

2010

References

External links

Legislative homepageNorthCarolinaCan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandon, Marcus Living people 1975 births People from Greensboro, North Carolina Politicians from Greensboro, North Carolina 20th-century African-American people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians LGBT African Americans Gay politicians African-American state legislators in North Carolina LGBT state legislators in North Carolina Democratic Party members of the North Carolina House of Representatives