Harry Brown (born April 13, 1955)NC Senate District 6: Harry Brown
''Jacksonville Daily News'' (October 31, 2014). is an American businessman and politician. A

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, Brown has been a member of the North Carolina State Senate since 2004, and the Senate

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

since 2011.Paul A. Specht
This Republican used to be a Democrat. Now he’s concerned about party purity.
''News & Observer'' (July 31, 2018). He represents the state's sixth Senate district, which consists of Jones and Onslow counties.

Early life and education

Brown received a BA in business administration and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Baptist university in Buies Creek, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (Southern Baptist Convention). Southern Baptist ConventionColleges and Universities sbc.n ...

Business and political career

Brown is an

automobile dealer A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as t ...

, owning a Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep and a Volkswagen-Subaru dealership. Brown later expanded into other businesses, owning an Allstate insurance agency and two

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the 14th-largest city in North Carolina. Jacksonville is the county seat and most populous commu ...

radio stations.David Mildenberg
Harry Brown champions the state's rural areas
''Business North Carolina'' (July 2, 2018). Brown first ran for the North Carolina House as 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 ...

in 2002, losing by 61 votes in the primary election. Brown subsequently switched to the Republican Party and in 2004 defeated Democratic incumbent Cecil Hargett.Election Results
North Carolina State Board of Elections. He retained his seat in 2006 by beating Democratic challenger Carolyn Pittman-Dorsey; ran unopposed in the general elections of 2010 and 2014; and in 2018 won re-election with 65% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Joseph (Joe) Webb. Staunchly conservative, Brown opposed the creation of the North Carolina Lottery in 2005, which passed on a close vote. Brown opposes

Medicaid expansion In the context of American public healthcare policy, Medicaid coverage gap refers to uninsured people who reside in states which have opted out of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), who are both ineligible for Medicaid unde ...

for low-income North Carolinians. In 2010, when Republicans took control of the state Senate, Brown was selected by the caucus to become Senate majority leader. As the chamber's chief budget-writer, Brown and state House Speaker Tim Moore, a fellow Republican, were the two North Carolina lawmakers with the most earmarked funding for their districts in the 2015 state budget, securing a collective total of $19 million.Colin Campbell, "NC House speaker, Senate budget writer send money home"
''Charlotte Observer,'' 25 October 2015, accessed 17 May 2016 Brown defended his use of earmarks for projects in his district, which included $10.96 million for a new middle and high school in Jones County, $2 million for construction of an air traffic control tower at the Albert J. Ellis Airport, and $500,000 for the Museum of the Marine. In 2017 Brown, in an attempt to increase funding in rural communities, proposed legislation to modify the distribution of state spending from sales tax revenue by allocating more of the money to the areas where the customers lived instead of where the businesses they shopped at were located. Urban areas with large shopping centers opposed the move, and the change was not implemented. In the North Carolina State Senate, Brown was the chief proponent of controversial legislation in 2017 and 2019 to ban, or impose a moratorium on, new

wind farms Wind is the natural movement of air or other gases relative to a planet's surface. Winds occur on a range of scales, from thunderstorm flows lasting tens of minutes, to local breezes generated by heating of land surfaces and lasting a few h ...

in most of

Eastern North Carolina Eastern North Carolina (sometimes abbreviated as ENC) is the region encompassing the eastern tier of North Carolina. It is known geographically as the state's Coastal Plain region. Primary subregions of Eastern North Carolina include the Sandhil ...

. The wind-power ban proposed by Brown was ultimately dropped from the 2019 legislation as part of a compromise.Lynn Bonner
Wind power ban dropped from wind power legislation
''News & Observer'' (June 26, 2019).

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Harry 1955 births 21st-century American politicians Campbell University alumni Living people Republican Party North Carolina state senators