Anthony G Brown

Early life, education, military career, and legal career

Brown was born in 1961 in Huntington, New York, to immigrant parents. His father, Roy Hershel Brown, a physician, was born in Cayo Mambi, Cuba, was raised in Kingston, Jamaica, and later came to the U.S. to attend Fordham University. Roy received his medical degree in Zurich, Switzerland, where he met his future wife, Lilly I. Berlinger, Anthony's mother. The couple raised Anthony, his sister and three brothers in New York.

Anthony attended public school on Long Island, graduating from Huntington High School in 1979. In his senior year, Brown became the first African American ever elected president of Huntington High School. After high school, Brown spent the summer at the United States Military Academy at West Point before switching to Harvard College, where he majored in Government and resided in Quincy House. At Harvard, Brown served on the Student Advisory Committee at the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics. Since Harvard did not offer ROTC at the time, in his second year, Brown enrolled in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program at MIT and earned a two-year scholarship. In 1984, Brown graduated with an A.B. cum laude, and as a Distinguished Military Graduate.

Military career

Upon graduation, Brown received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He graduated first in his flight class at Fort Rucker, Alabama. During his time on active duty, Brown served as a helicopter pilot with the Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in Europe. During that period of active duty, Brown held positions as platoon leader for a target acquisition, reconnaissance and surveillance platoon, executive officer of a general support aviation company, a battalion logistics officer, and the flight operations officer for Task Force 23.

After completing his active duty service, Brown continued his military service as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the United States Army Reserve. His assignments included Commander of the 153rd Legal Support Organization in Norristown, Pennsylvania, where, in addition to supporting deploying service members and their families with legal services, he mobilized eighteen soldiers to Fort Hood, Texas in support of the III Corps' Operation New Dawn mission to Iraq. Prior to his tenure with the 153rd LSO, Brown was the Staff Judge Advocate for the 353rd Civil Affairs Command headquartered at Fort Wadsworth, New York. Brown began his service as a JAG with the 10th LSO in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, where he held numerous assignments, including in the areas of international law and claims law. Currently, Brown is a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

In 2004, Brown, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates, was deployed to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Brown served in Baghdad, Fallujah, Kirkuk, and Basra with the 353rd Civil Affairs Command as Senior Consultant to the Iraqi Ministry of Displacement and Migration. Brown received the Bronze Star for his distinguished service in Iraq.

Awards, ribbons, and badges

Brown's personal awards include:

Brown was also awarded the Army Aviator Badge, and the Army Superior Unit Award. He is Airborne and Air Assault qualified, and is authorized to wear one Overseas Service Bar.

Law school and legal career

After serving five years on active duty, Brown returned to the United States to attend Harvard Law School in the fall of 1989. He attended Harvard Law School at the same time as other notable African Americans, including future-President Barack Obama, Artur Davis and actor Hill Harper. At Harvard Law, Brown was a member of the Board of Student Advisers. Brown's third-year paper, written under the supervision of Professor Charles Ogletree, analyzed the scope of the Fourth Amendment's protections against unreasonable search and seizure in the military. Brown was Chair of the Membership Committee of the Black Law Students Association. Brown graduated from Harvard Law, with a Juris Doctor in 1992.

After graduating from law school, Brown completed a two-year clerkship for Chief Judge Eugene Sullivan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In 1994, he joined the Washington, D.C. office of the international law firm of Wilmer Cutler Pickering (now WilmerHale). Brown practiced law with the late John Payton, a renowned civil rights attorney and former president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Stephen Sachs who was the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland from 1967 to 1970 and was the 40th Attorney General of Maryland. In 1998, Brown received Wilmer's Pro Bono Publico Award for his work in representing indigent clients. In 1999, Brown worked for Merrill Lynch for five months. Brown joined the Prince George’s County land use and zoning law firm Gibbs & Haller in 2000, after having been elected to the Maryland General Assembly.

Maryland House of Delegates

Brown's political career began in 1998, when he was elected to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 25 in Prince George’s County. Brown ran on a ticket with Senator Ulysses Currie, Delegate Dereck Davis, and Delegate Melony Griffith. He served two terms in the Maryland House of Delegates and rose to several positions of leadership. During his first term, Brown served on the House Economic Matters Committee. He was appointed Vice Chair of the Judiciary Committee in 2003. In 2004, Speaker of the House Michael E. Busch appointed Brown to the position of Majority Whip, the fourth-ranking position in the House.

Lieutenant Governor of Maryland

In 2006, Brown was elected Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with Martin O’Malley, the former Mayor of Baltimore. The pair were the only challenging candidates to defeat an incumbent gubernatorial ticket in the 2006 election cycle. On January 17, 2007, Brown was sworn in as Maryland's 8th lieutenant governor. Both Brown and O'Malley were reelected by a 56% to 42% margin on November 2, 2010. Brown was the first person ever elected Lieutenant Governor directly from the Maryland House of Delegates.

Governor O’Malley tasked Brown to lead the O'Malley-Brown Administration's efforts on several policy fronts, including efforts to expand and improve health care, support economic development, help victims of domestic violence, increase access to higher education, and provide Veterans with better services and resources.

In July 2010, Brown was elected chair of the National Lieutenant Governors Association, a position he served in for a term of one year.

Health care

As Co-Chair of the Maryland Health Care Reform Coordinating Council and Maryland's Health Quality and Cost Council, Lt. Governor Brown led the O'Malley-Brown Administration's efforts to reduce costs, expand access, and improve the quality of care for all Marylanders. In June 2012, Brown was named "Maryland's Public Health Hero" by the Maryland Health Care for All! Coalition. He assisted in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, which according to a "non-partisan" 2012 study using Obama administration numbers and various state agency projections, would save Maryland $672 million by 2020. In both 2011 and 2012, Brown led legislation through the Maryland General Assembly to create a health insurance exchange.

Brown was severely criticized for his leadership of the development of the health insurance exchange, which as of April 14, 2014, had enrolled only 66,203 Marylanders (including family members on shared plans). The O'Malley Administration apologized for the "botched" launch of the Web site and had to seek emergency funding legislation to make stopgap changes to the site. The state paid a contractor $125.5 million to develop and operate the failed site, and incurred at least $30.5 million in unnecessary Medicaid spending as a result of the failed rollout. The web site failure was the subject of a federal investigation into the costs associated with developing the exchange and the site's performance failures. The state announced that it was considering scrapping its failed online health exchange altogether and hiring a new contractor to build a new online exchange using technology employed by the state of Connecticut at an expected cost of tens of millions of dollars. The Obama administration relaxed rules for residents of states like Maryland with dysfunctional online health care exchanges, allowing consumers to bypass the exchanges altogether to buy health insurance.

Brown led efforts to address health disparities among racial and ethnic groups in Maryland. In 2012, he developed created Health Enterprise Zones, which would use incentives to increase the number of primary care providers and other essential health care services in underserved communities, with the goal of reducing preventable diseases such as asthma and diabetes.

Economic development

Brown led the O’Malley-Brown Administration's economic development portfolio. He served as Chair of numerous economic development initiatives, including the Joint Legislative and Executive Commission on Oversight of Public-Private Partnerships, the Governor's Subcabinet on Base Realignment and Closure, and the FastTrack initiative – part of Maryland Made Easy (www.easy.maryland.gov) – to streamline the state permitting process for businesses and developers.

Public-private partnerships

Brown became one of the leading champions for the increased use of Public-Private Partnerships to advance infrastructure projects in Maryland. Governor Martin O'Malley appointed Brown to serve as Chair of the Joint Legislative and Executive Commission on Oversight of Public-Private Partnerships. The fifteen-member Commission was established in 2010 under House Bill 1370 to evaluate the State's framework and oversight of public–private partnerships. Under Brown's leadership, the Commission worked to fulfill its responsibilities and increase the potential for private investment in public infrastructure projects. The commission submitted its final report to the Governor and General Assembly in January 2012, which included assessing the oversight, best practices, and approval processes for public-private partnerships in other states; evaluating the definition of public-private partnerships; making recommendations concerning the appropriate manner of conducting legislative monitoring and oversight of public-private partnerships; and making recommendations concerning broad policy parameters within which public-private partnerships should be negotiated.

Base realignment and closure

Brown was tasked by Governor O'Malley to lead the Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet and the implementation of Maryland's BRAC Plan, which ensured the State of Maryland would be ready for the 28,000 households that came to the state as a result of the BRAC process. It was estimated that between and 45,000 to 60,000 jobs would be created in Maryland by 2016 due to BRAC. Since 2007, the BRAC Subcabinet met regularly with BRAC stakeholders to coordinate and sychronize the State's efforts with public and private partners to address BRAC needs. The BRAC Plan set forth new initiatives and priorities to address the human capital and physical infrastructure requirements to support BRAC, as well as to seize the opportunities that BRAC presents, while preserving the quality of life already enjoyed by Marylanders. Several of the larger moves included the Army's Communications–Electronics Command (CECOM) to Aberdeen Proving Ground from Ft. Monmouth, New Jersey, and the Air National Guard Readiness Center at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington. The Defense Information Systems Agency was relocating to Fort George G. Meade from northern Virginia and Walter Reed Army Medical Center was moving to the Bethesda Naval Hospital to create the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center at Bethesda.

In 2011, the Association of Defense Communities recognized Brown as their Public Official of the Year for his leadership on BRAC.

Domestic violence

Eliminating domestic violence is a personal cause for Brown. In August 2008, his cousin Cathy was murdered by her estranged boyfriend. Building on his experience as a legislator and the perspective this tragedy provided him, Brown has championed reforms to fight domestic violence and provide improved support to victims.

In 2009, Brown led efforts to improve domestic violence laws and take guns out of the hands of domestic abusers by allowing judges to order the abuser in a temporary protective order to surrender any firearms in his or her possession.

During the 2010 Legislative Session, Brown worked with the General Assembly to pass legislation allowing a victim of domestic abuse to terminate a residential lease with a copy of a final protective order. During the 2012 Legislative Session, Brown led the O'Malley Brown Administration's successful efforts to extend unemployment benefits to a victim of domestic violence who decides to leave employment because the abuser is a threat at the workplace. Brown believes that a victim of domestic violence should not be required to choose between financial security and physical safety.

Brown also led efforts to expand the availability of hospital-based Domestic Violence Screening Programs at Maryland hospitals to help identify victims of domestic violence and connect them to support services. In 2010, he helped launch Maryland's fifth hospital-based domestic violence program at Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly. In 2011, Brown helped launch a sixth hospital-based program at Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Maryland. Similar programs are also in place in the Baltimore region at Anne Arundel Medical Center, Mercy Medical Center, Sinai Hospital and Northwest Hospital.

Education

Under the O’Malley Brown Administration, Maryland's students made dramatic improvements in nearly every statistical category, and Maryland’s schools have been ranked # 1 in the country for 4 years in a row.

Brown lead the O'Malley-Brown Administration's efforts to increase taxes. They raised taxes over 40 times during their tenure. The administration took steps to make a higher education more accessible and affordable for all Marylanders, including making record investments in community colleges and working to keep an education affordable at four year public colleges and universities. As a result, the number of STEM college graduates, number of associate degrees, and the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in Maryland all increased since the governor and lieutenant governor took office in 2007.

In 2010, Lt. Governor Brown launched the Skills2Compete initiative, which promotes programs and activities that lead to increasing the skill level of Marylanders though the attainment of a post-secondary credential, apprenticeship program or degree.

Veterans affairs

Brown was the nation’s highest-ranking elected official to have served a tour of military duty in Iraq and he led the O'Malley-Brown Administration's work to improve benefits and services for Maryland's veterans.

In 2012, Brown announced the launch of Maryland Homefront: the Veterans and Military Family Mortgage Program, which helps qualified current and former military members find homes by giving them a discounted mortgage interest rate and help with closing costs. Also in 2012, Brown helped pass legislation that allows notation of ‘veteran’ status on drivers’ licenses and identification card.

During the 2008 session of the Maryland General Assembly, Brown led the administration’s successful efforts to pass a sweeping veterans package, including passage of the Veterans Behavioral Health Act of 2008. The legislation sets aside $2.3 million for the expansion of direct services to OIF/OEF veterans living with behavioral and mental health problem. The legislation also named Brown chair of the Maryland Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board.

Other legislation passed as part of the 'Maryland's Commitment to Veterans' package includes:

2008 election and Obama transition

Despite being a classmate of Barack Obama, in September 2007, Brown initially endorsed Hillary Clinton for President in the 2008 election. He campaigned for her in several states, including South Carolina and Georgia. In June 2008, Brown subsequently endorsed Obama.

In July 2008, Brown was appointed to the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee and served on the Platform Drafting Committee. Brown led the efforts to strengthen the Democratic Party's commitment to veterans and ensuring that the Chesapeake Bay be named as a “national treasure.” Brown was a ‘Party Leader/Elected Official’ delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado in late August 2008 and cast his vote for then-Senator Obama, along with 98 members of the Maryland delegation.

Brown was named Co-Chair of the Obama/Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the Department of Veterans Affairs on November 14, 2008.

2014 gubernatorial candidacy

Anthony Brown announced his candidacy for Governor of Maryland in the 2014 election on May 10, 2013, at Prince George's County Community College. He chose Ken Ulman, county executive of Howard County, Maryland, as his running mate in June 2013. Brown was endorsed by Governor Martin O'Malley, U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer, Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Miller, Jr., and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. Brown faced Attorney General Doug Gansler and Delegate Heather Mizeur in the Democratic primary. Brown won the June 2014 Democratic primary and became the Democratic nominee for governor but was defeated by Republican nominee Larry Hogan in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Elections

On March 12, 2015, The Baltimore Sun reported that Brown would run for the U.S. House of Representatives seat for Maryland's 4th district, which was being vacated by Donna Edwards. He won a crowded six-way Democratic primary—the real contest in this heavily Democratic, black-majority district—with 41 percent of the vote.

As expected, Brown won the seat handily in the general election, taking over 73 percent of the vote.

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Personal life

Brown is the father of Rebecca and Jonathan, with former wife Patricia Arzuaga, to whom he was married from 1993 to their divorce in 2009. Jonathan was adopted.

Brown married Karmen Walker, the widow of Prince George's County police officer Anthony Michael "Tony" Walker, on May 27, 2012, and is also the stepfather of Walker's son Anthony. Walker is a director of government relations with Comcast.