Tillis Swoops Down, Snatches Up Rep. Brown

by | Oct 7, 2015 | 2016 Elections, Carolina Strategic Analysis, Features, NC Politics, NCGOP | 1 comment

Rep. Brian Brown (R-Greenville) is resigning from the General Assembly to take a job with Senator Thom Tillis. Brown was an ally of Tillis in the legislature and will be working with him again as Eastern Regional representative. Brown served as chairman of both the Health Committee and the Committee on University Education. His departure means a vacancy in House District 9, which will need to be filled.

Brown, a businessman, is originally from Ohio. He moved to Greenville and in 2012 won the GOP nomination against incumbent Rep. Marian McLawhorn, a long-serving Democrat. McLawhorn waited until the last minute to file, hoping that someone else would run. When no one else did, she sought another term, but redistricting made the seat much more Republican-friendly. Still, McLawhorn was expected to win and Brown’s victory was a bit of an upset.

In 2012, Brown’s reelection was most notable for the youthful age of his challenger: Democrat Uriah Ward was a senior at East Carolina University. Despite an energetic campaign by Ward, Brown was reelected by a surprisingly large 60%-40% margin.

The successor to Brown will be a Republican, chosen by the Pitt County GOP Executive Committee and appointed by Governor McCrory. This person will then participate in the “short session” of the legislature and will probably go before the voters in the 2016 general election. The district consists of the non-downtown portions of Greenville and most of eastern Pitt County and given the election history, any Republican will have a substantial advantage over any Democrat.

It would probably be accurate to characterize Brown as a “mainstream” member of the GOP caucus (as in, not someone of the Tea Party variety, who generally votes with the leadership). We’ll have to wait to see if the executive committee chooses as a replacement someone in Rep. Brown’s mold, or goes with someone who turns out to be a bombthrower like Rep. Speciale, who represents an adjacent district.

1 Comment

  1. Apply Liberally

    i’m hoping it’s a “bombthrower” like Speciale.

    If a Republican will be appointed now and likely win the seat in 2016 anyway, why not have it taken over by someone like Speciale who can, on any given day, mouth things to show just how just partisan and warped the NCGOP base has become? That sort of stuff always makes good fodder for Dems in proving their point about Republican extremism.

    See: http://www.politicususa.com/2015/09/15/north-carolina-gop-rep-refers-obama-islamic-son-bitch-facebook-page.html

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