Betty J. Brown (born August 20, 1939) is an American politician and rancher who was a member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

from 1999 to 2011.

Career

From 1999 to 2011, Brown represented House District 4 for

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

and Kaufman counties. When she was initially elected to the position in 1998, the district included Kaufman and

Hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

counties. After two terms, the district was changed to Kaufman and Henderson counties as far east as

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Texas. In the March 2010 Republican primary, Brown was defeated by

Lance Gooden Lance Carter Gooden (born December 1, 1982) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 5th congressional district since 2019. His district includes parts of eastern Dallas, as well as a large swath of exurban and r ...

, her former legislative aide.

Controversy

In 2009, Brown was criticized for her comments made during Texas House Elections Committee testimony on the voting difficulties encountered by

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used fo ...

s who use two different names. During the testimony, Brown suggested that Asian-Americans adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with". Though at first defending her statement, accusing Democrats of making the issue "about race", she eventually apologized for the incident, acknowledging the "diversity of

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

" and the "enrichment" that Asian-Americans bring to the state.

References

External links

Official biography

Official page of the Texas House of Representatives' 4th District
Republican Party members of the Texas House of Representatives 1939 births Living people People from Terrell, Texas Ranchers from Texas Southern Methodist University alumni 21st-century members of the Texas Legislature {{TX-politician-stub