Roy Brown (born February 16, 1951) is a former

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...

from

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

Senate District 25. He served four terms in the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House :''67th Legislature – 2021� ...

and was elected to the state senate in 2007. He was the Republican nominee for the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

seat in Montana with

Steve Daines Steven David Daines ( ; born August 20, 1962) is an American politician and former corporate executive serving as the junior United States senator for Montana since 2015. A Republican, he served as the U.S. representative for Montana's at-large ...

in 2008. In 2010, Representative

Kendall Van Dyk Kendall J. Van Dyk (born March 21, 1980) is a Democratic Party member of the Montana Senate, representing District 25 in north-central Billings, Montana since 2011. Personal life and education Van Dyk earned a B.A. in political science from Mont ...

defeated Brown in the general election.

Early life

Brown was born in Casper, Wyoming, in 1951, but his family relocated to

in 1955. He attended grade school and high school in Billings. After working in the oil fields as a roughneck, he enrolled at Montana Tech University in

Butte, Montana Butte ( ) is a consolidated city-county and the county seat of Silver Bow County, Montana, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. The city covers , and, according to the ...

, where he earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

in petroleum engineering. From 1974 to 1982 Brown worked for

Marathon Oil Company The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road running, road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also w ...

in energy development, a job that took him around the world. In 1983 he returned to Billings to start an oil and gas business. He sold it in 1994 and has been a landlord in the Billings area since that time.

Political career

Roy Brown sold his oil and gas company in Billings, and currently makes a living through rental property in the Billings area. Beginning in 1999, Brown was a member of the Montana House of Representatives. He held leadership positions as a representative as majority whip and house majority leader in the 2002, 2004, and 2006 sessions. Brown's views have traditionally been considered conservative. Brown lost his 2010 bid for reelection to Democratic state representative

in a recount by a margin of just four votes out of the 6,208 cast.

2008 gubernatorial election

Brown was the nominee of the state Republican party against incumbent Democratic governor

Brian Schweitzer Brian David Schweitzer (born September 4, 1955) is an American farmer and politician who served as the 23rd Governor of Montana from 2005 to 2013. Schweitzer served for a time as chair of the Western Governors Association as well as the Democrat ...

for

of Montana. He chose

as his running mate for lieutenant governor. In his campaign, Brown criticized the increase in state spending seen under Schweitzer. Brown supported a reduction in property taxes for Montanans as well as increased coal development as a means of spurring economic gains and funding the state's educational system. He also called into question Schweitzer's character and judgment, portraying himself and Montanans as the victims of a bully Schweitzer defeated Brown in the general election. Brown received less than 33% of the vote."Official Election Results, Montana Secretary of State."
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References

External links

Roy Brown official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Roy 1951 births Living people Republican Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Republican Party Montana state senators Politicians from Casper, Wyoming University of Montana alumni