Henry E. Brown, Jr.

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For other persons named Henry Brown, see Henry Brown (disambiguation).
Henry Brown, Jr.

Incumbent
Assumed office 
January 3, 2001
Preceded by Mark Sanford
Born December 20, 1935 (1935-12-20) (age 73)
Bishopville, South Carolina
Political party Republican
Spouse Winifred Brown
Residence Hanahan, South Carolina
Alma mater IBM Technical School
Occupation grocery executive
Religion Southern Baptist
Military service
Service/branch United States National Guard
Unit South Carolina

Henry Edward Brown, Jr. (born December 20, 1935) is a politician and from the U.S. state of South Carolina, currently representing the state's 1st congressional district (map) in the United States House of Representatives. The district is based in Charleston and takes in almost all of the state's share of the Atlantic coastline (except for Beaufort and Hilton Head Island, which are in the 2nd District).

Brown was born in Bishopville, South Carolina to Lougenia Mathis and Henry Edward Brown.[1] After graduating from high school, Brown attended college at Charleston Southern University but did not graduate. He instead entered the IBM Management and Technical School. He then worked for the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain, becoming a vice president. Brown also spent 10 years as a member of the United States National Guard.

Brown was elected to the Hanahan city council in 1981 and he was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1984 as a Republican from Berkeley County. When the Republicans gained control of the state house in 1994, Brown became chairman of the Ways and Means committee and helped deliver the largest tax cut in state history.[2] He also served as chairman of the state's Joint Tax study Committee and was one of the vocal leaders of a massive 1998 tax proposal.

When 1st District Congressman Mark Sanford decided to honor a pledge to serve no more than six years in the House, Brown ran for the seat, passing out "Oh Henry" candy bars during the primary election as a way to increase his name recognition. He won the runoff and easily won the general election. The Democrats didn't even field a challenger in 2002 or 2004. In 2006, he won reelection by over 20 points, but surprisingly did not pass the 60% margin in a race against Democratic Randy Maatta and Green candidate Brian Merrill.

In the 2008 election, Brown faced Democratic nominee Linda Ketner. Brown has been endorsed by the Humane Society of the United States, National Rifle Association, Nations Right to Life Campaign PAC, Veterans of Foreign Wars PAC, Focus on the Family, US Chamber of Commerce, The National Federation of Independent Business and South Carolina Seafood Alliance. Polls showed a much closer-than-expected race, as the 1st had long been considered to be unwinnable for a Democrat; indeed, many polls showed the race in single digits. Ultimately, Brown barely held onto his seat, winning only 52 percent of the vote to Ketner's 48 percent. He lost badly in Charleston County largely due to Barack Obama winning it with 54 percent of the vote--only the second time a Democratic presidential candidate has carried the county since 1956. However, Brown swamped Ketner in the Charleston suburbs, enabling him to secure a fifth term.

Contents

[edit] Forest fire controversy

In 2004, Henry Brown set a controlled burn on his own property, but the fire spread to the neighboring Francis Marion National Forest, burning 20 acres. Although he eventually paid a reduced fine of $4,747 in April 2008, the case cost the government an estimated $100,000 to resolve, and forced the Forest Service to rewrite a criminal code, making it much more difficult to prosecute those who negligently set fire to federal property. Brown commented regarding the affair that, "I was so taken aback that I’d be treated so impersonal — like I was some kind of crook...Those were criminal charges that were filed against me. I felt like I was the victim.”[3]

[edit] Committee assignments

Congressman Brown's committee assignments

[edit] Electoral history

South Carolina's 1st congressional district: Results 2000–2006[4][5]
Year Democrat Votes Pct Republican Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct 3rd Party Party Votes Pct
2000 Andy Brack 82,622 36% Henry Brown 139,597 60% Bill Woolsey Libertarian 6,010 3% Bob Batchelder Reform 2,067 1% Joe Innella Natural Law 1,110 <1% *
2002 (no candidate) Henry Brown 127,562 90% James E. Dunn United Citizens 9,841 7% Joe Innella Natural Law 4,965 3% *
2004 (no candidate) Henry Brown 186,448 88% James E. Dunn Green 25,674 12% *
2006 Randy Maatta * 73,218 38% Henry Brown 115,766 60% James E. Dunn Green 4,287 2% *
2008 Linda Ketner 163,724 47.89% Henry Brown 177,540 51.93% *
*Write-in and minor candidate notes: In 2000, write-ins received 40 votes. In 2002, write-ins received 57 votes. In 2004, write-ins received 186 votes. In 2006, write-ins received 104 votes. In 2006, Randy Maata also ran under the Working Families party. In 2008, write-ins received 615 votes.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ henry brown
  2. ^ http://brown.house.gov/Biography/biography.html
  3. ^ http://www.thestate.com/local/story/527896.html
  4. ^ "Election Statistics". Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives. http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. . Note that the Clerk results incorrectly say that Bob Batchelder was the Natural Law candidate, and provide no candidate for the Reform party.
  5. ^ "South Carolina November 2000 General Election". The Green Papers. http://www.thegreenpapers.com/G00/SC.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-24.  This citation is for showing Joe Innella's candidacy as the Natural Law candidate, not Batchelder.

[edit] External links

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Mark Sanford		 Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from South Carolina's 1st congressional district
2001–Present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
South Carolina's current delegation to the United States Congress
Senators
Representative(s)
Henry E. Brown, Jr. (R), Joe Wilson (R), J. Gresham Barrett (R), Bob Inglis (R), John M. Spratt, Jr. (D), Jim Clyburn (D)
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Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_E._Brown,_Jr."
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