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, Brown has been a member of the

North Carolina State Senate The North Carolina Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the North Carolina General Assembly, which along with the North Carolina House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the state legislature of North Carolina. The Senate ...

since 2004, and the Senate majority leader 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 Jones or Joneses may refer to: People and fictional characters *Jones (surname), a common Welsh and English surname * List of people with surname Jones, including fictional characters ** Justice Jones (disambiguation) ** Judge Jones (disambiguati ...

and Onslow counties.

Early life and education

Brown received a BA in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from

Campbell University Campbell University is a private Christian university in Buies Creek, North Carolina, United States. Campbell's main campus in Buies Creek is home to its College of Arts & Sciences, College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences, Divinity School, Scho ...

Business and political career

Brown is an

automobile dealer A car dealership, or car dealer, is a business that sells new or used cars, at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or its sales subsidiary. Car dealerships also often sell spare parts and automotive maintena ...

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

Allstate The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois (with a Northbrook, Illinois address) since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still pa ...

insurance agency and two

Jacksonville, North Carolina Jacksonville is a city in Onslow County, North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 72,723, which makes Jacksonville the List of municipalities in North Carolina, 14th-most populous city in North Caroli ...

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 (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

in 2002, losing by 61 votes in the

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

. 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 Under the public healthcare policy of the United States, some people have incomes too high to qualify in their state of residence for Medicaid, the public health insurance plan for those with limited resources, but too low to qualify for the pr ...

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 Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled ai ...

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 A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

in most of

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

. 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 Campbell University alumni Living people Republican Party North Carolina state senators 21st-century members of the North Carolina General Assembly