Corrine Brown
Encyclopedia
Corrine Brown is an U.S. Representative
for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
The district includes parts of Duval
, Clay
, Putnam
, Alachua
, Volusia
, Marion
, Lake
, Seminole
, and Orange Counties
.
, Brown earned a bachelor of science from Florida A&M University
in 1969 In college she became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho
Sorority, one of four African American Greek letter sororities
in the United States. She earned a master's degree in 1971 and an educational specialist degree from the University of Florida
in 1974. She received an Honorary Doctor of Law
degree from Edward Waters College
in Jacksonville, and has been on the faculty at the latter two schools and at Florida Community College at Jacksonville
.
for ten years beginning in 1982.
Key votes that Brown has made recently include HB 822 National Right To Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 on November 16, 2011 for which she voted in favor of, HR 358, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, for which she voted against, and HJ Res 68 Authorizing Limited Use of U.S. Armed Forces in Libya for which she was also in favor of.
In 2003-2005, Brown cosponsored legislation regarding civil rights
and foreign relations
. She also participated in Michael Moore
's "Slacker" college voter drive tour.
Brown was one of the 31 representatives who voted against counting the electoral votes from Ohio
in the United States presidential election, 2004
. In 2006, she voted "no" on the Child Custody Protection Act, Public Expression of Religion Act, Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act
, Military Commissions Act
, and Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006. She voted "yes" on the SAFE Port Act
. On September 29, 2008, Brown voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
.
On her 2010 political courage test at www.votesmart.org, Corrine stated that she supports decriminalization of marijuana (moving from schedule 1 to presumably a lower schedule). This means if someone is caught with small personal amounts it would presumably be a fine instead of an arrest. She supports increasing funding for drug treatment programs; rather than building more prisons. If a doctor says that a patient can benefit from marijuana, she supports we listen to the doctor rather than listening to the police.
leader, and long-time associate, Henry Lyons
. Brown confirmed receiving the check and denied she had used the money improperly. Brown said that she had taken the check and converted it into another check made out to Pameron Bus Tours to pay for transportation to a rally she organized in Tallahassee. She said that she didn't have to report the money, and that she had been cleared, explaining the rally was to protest the reorganization of her district lines, and she did not use it for herself.
The Federal Election Commission admonished Brown and Brown's former campaign treasurer quit after he discovered that his name had been forged on her campaign reports. The staffer alleged to have forged the treasurer's signature stayed with Brown and as of 1998 was her chief of staff.
On June 9, 1998, the Congressional Accountability Project voted to conduct a formal inquiry regarding Brown. The Project called for the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to determine if Brown had violated House Rule 10. One of the complaints was that Brown's adult daughter, Shantrel Brown, had received a luxury automobile as a gift from an agent of a Gambian millionaire named Foutanga Sissoko. Sissoko, a friend of Congresswoman Brown, had been imprisoned in Miami after pleading guilty to charges of bribing a customs officer. Brown had worked to secure his release, pressuring U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
to deport Sissoko back to his homeland as an alternative to continued incarceration. The Project held this violated the House gift rule, but Brown denied she had acted improperly. The congressional subcommittee investigating Brown found insufficient evidence to issue a Statement of Alleged Violation, but said she had acted with poor judgment in connection with Sissoko.
On February 25, 2004 Brown referred to the Bush administration
policies on Haiti as "racist", and called his representatives as a "bunch of white men" during a briefing on the Haiti crisis with senior State Department officials and several members of Congress.
Assistant Secretary of State
Roger Noriega
, said that, as a Mexican American, he deeply resented "being called a racist and branded a white man," to which Brown replied, "you all look alike to me." Brown initially refused to consider apologizing, but later issued a statement saying, "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," she said. "However people read it, it wasn't meant that way," she said, noting that she was personally insulted by the "anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table" by the officials in attendance. Hispanic representatives in Florida were more ambivalent than scornful, with Mike Cordero of the Hispanic Organization of North Florida saying, "We're not taking this as Mrs. Brown is necessarily against us. She just took a poetic license. To us, it doesn't hold any charge. It's kind of funny."
In July 2004 Brown was rebuked by the House of Representatives after she referred to the disputed 2000 presidential election
in Florida as a "coup d'état". This comment came during floor debate over HR-4818, which would have provided for international monitoring of the 2004 U.S. presidential election.
In June 2007, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
released a report listing Brown's daughter Shantrel Brown-Fields as a congressional lobbyist; the organization maintains that Congressional relatives working as lobbyists for special interests are a conflict of interest for lawmakers. Brown-Fields is employed by Alcalde & Fayte, with clients including ITERA, Miami-Dade County Commission, and Edward Waters College
. In 2006, Brown's campaign committee paid her daughter's husband, Tyree Fields, $5,500 for political consulting work. Rep. Brown has earmarked millions of dollars in federal funding for her daughter's client Edward Waters College.
, Gainesville
, Orlando
, and Ocala
, the Third District seemed likely to send Florida's first African-American to Congress since Reconstruction, and Brown decided to run.
Brown faced several candidates in the 1992 Democratic primary, but the strongest opponent to emerge was Andy Johnson, a white talk radio host from Jacksonville. Brown defeated Johnson in the primary and in a two-candidate runoff, and went on to win the general election in November 1992.
In 1995, the boundaries of the Third District were struck down by the Supreme Court due to their irregular shape. One of the main instigators of the lawsuit that led to the redistricting was Brown's old political rival, Andy Johnson. Brown railed against the change, complaining that "[t]he Bubba I beat [Johnson] couldn't win at the ballot box [so] he took it to court," as she was quoted as saying in the New Republic. Although the district lines were redrawn, Brown still won the 1996 election.
On June 1, 2009, Brown announced she would form an exploratory committee
for a possible run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican
Mel Martinez
saying, "These are challenging times for Florida. Our economy is in a shambles and our families are hurting. Charlie Crist may be good at taking pictures and making promises, but what has he actually accomplished?" In October 2009, it was announced that Brown will not run for Senate, and will seek re-election in the House of Representatives.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for , serving since 1993. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
The district includes parts of Duval
Duval County, Florida
Duval County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 864,263. Its county seat is Jacksonville, with which the Duval County government has been consolidated since 1968...
, Clay
Clay County, Florida
Clay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2010, the population was 190,895. Its county seat is Green Cove Springs, Florida. Clay County is part of the Greater Jacksonville Metropolitan area.- History :...
, Putnam
Putnam County, Florida
Putnam County is a county located in the state of Florida. The entire county makes up the Palatka Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2000, the population was 70,423. The U.S. Census Bureau 2009 estimate for the county was 72,893 . Its county seat is Palatka, Florida. The county is centrally...
, Alachua
Alachua County, Florida
Alachua County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 227,120. Its county seat is Gainesville, Florida. Alachua County is the home of the University of Florida and is also known for its diverse culture, local music, and artisans...
, Volusia
Volusia County, Florida
Volusia County is a county located in the state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2010 official county's population was 494,593 . Its county seat is DeLand, and its most populous city is currently Deltona....
, Marion
Marion County, Florida
Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. The U.S. Census Bureau 2006 estimate for the county is 316,183. Its county seat is Ocala....
, Lake
Lake County, Florida
Lake County is a county located in the state of Florida, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 210,528. The Census Bureau estimated the population in 2008 to be 307,243. Its county seat is Tavares...
, Seminole
Seminole County, Florida
Seminole County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida. Located between Orlando to the south and Deland and Daytona Beach to the north, it is part of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. Its county seat and largest city is Sanford...
, and Orange Counties
Orange County, Florida
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida and is part of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 1,145,956....
.
Early life, education and career
Born in Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Brown earned a bachelor of science from Florida A&M University
Florida A&M University
Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, commonly known as Florida A&M or FAMU, is a historically black university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States, the state capital, and is one of eleven member institutions of the State University System of Florida...
in 1969 In college she became a member of Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. was founded on the campus of Butler University on November 12, 1922, by seven school teachers in Indianapolis, Indiana...
Sorority, one of four African American Greek letter sororities
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
in the United States. She earned a master's degree in 1971 and an educational specialist degree from the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in 1974. She received an Honorary Doctor of Law
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
degree from Edward Waters College
Edward Waters College
-External links:* -- Official web site** at * Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs** **...
in Jacksonville, and has been on the faculty at the latter two schools and at Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Florida Community College at Jacksonville
Florida State College at Jacksonville is a state college in Jacksonville, Florida, U.S., and part of the Florida College System. It is one of several institutions in the Florida College System designated a "state college", as it offers a greater number of four-year bachelor's degrees than...
.
Florida legislature
Brown served in the Florida House of RepresentativesFlorida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The House is composed of 120 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 156,677.The House convenes at...
for ten years beginning in 1982.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureUnited States House Committee on Transportation and InfrastructureThe U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. John Mica currently chairs the committee.-History:...
- Subcommittee on AviationUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on AviationThe Subcommittee on Aviation is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over civil aviation, including most aspects of the Federal Aviation Administration , the Transportation Security Administration, and the National...
- Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime TransportationUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime TransportationThe Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The Subcommittee has jurisdiction over maritime safety, security, law enforcement, and defense. Additionally, the Subcommittee exercises jurisdiction over...
- Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous MaterialsUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous MaterialsThe Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee...
(Ranking Member) - Subcommittee on Water Resources and EnvironmentUnited States House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and EnvironmentThe Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment is a subcommittee within the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. The subcommittee has jurisdiction over water conservation, pollution control, infrastructure, and hazardous waste cleanup, the civil works programs of the U.S. Army...
- Subcommittee on Aviation
- Committee on Veterans' AffairsUnited States House Committee on Veterans' AffairsThe standing Committee on Veterans' Affairs in the United States House of Representatives oversees agencies, reviews current legislation, and recommends new bills or amendments concerning veterans. Jurisdiction includes retiring and disability pensions, life insurance, education , vocational...
- Subcommittee on HealthUnited States House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on HealthThe United States Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Health is one of the four subcommittees within the House Veterans' Affairs Committee.The Subcommittee on Health has legislative and oversight jurisdiction for the Department of Veterans Affairs’ health care system, programs and research...
- Subcommittee on Health
Tenure
Brown has received some of her strongest support from religious leaders, organized labor and the sugar industry.Key votes that Brown has made recently include HB 822 National Right To Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011 on November 16, 2011 for which she voted in favor of, HR 358, Prohibiting Taxpayer Funding for Abortion, for which she voted against, and HJ Res 68 Authorizing Limited Use of U.S. Armed Forces in Libya for which she was also in favor of.
In 2003-2005, Brown cosponsored legislation regarding civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
and foreign relations
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
. She also participated in Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
's "Slacker" college voter drive tour.
Interest Group Ratings
In terms of interest group ratings, Brown holds high percentages in pro-choice groups such as the Florida Alliance of Planned Parenthood Affiliates - Positions on Reproductive Rights (for which she has a 100% rating) , NARAL Pro-Choice America – Positions (100% ), National Family Planning & Reproductive Health Association - House of Representatives Score (100% ). Brown overall holds high percentage rates from other issue groups involving animal and wildlife issues, senior and security issues, labor, education, and welfare and poverty. Meanwhile, Brown's ratings are lower in issues that deal with agriculture and economics such as National Taxpayers Union - Positions on Tax and Spending (5%), American Farm Bureau Federation – Positions (33%), and United States Chamber of Commerce – Positions (13%). Other relatively low rates for Brown from interest groups include trade, conservative issues, national security , indigenous peoples issues, gun issues,immigration, and foreign aid and policy issues. The ratings don't necessary correlate with Brown's positions or votes on certain issues during her time as a representative in the House.Brown was one of the 31 representatives who voted against counting the electoral votes from Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
in the United States presidential election, 2004
United States presidential election, 2004
The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...
. In 2006, she voted "no" on the Child Custody Protection Act, Public Expression of Religion Act, Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act
Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act
The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act (The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act (The Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act (( of the 109th Congress was passed on September 28, 2006 by a vote...
, Military Commissions Act
Military Commissions Act of 2006
The United States Military Commissions Act of 2006, also known as HR-6166, was an Act of Congress signed by President George W. Bush on October 17, 2006. Drafted in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision on Hamdan v...
, and Private Property Rights Implementation Act of 2006. She voted "yes" on the SAFE Port Act
SAFE Port Act
The Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006 was an Act of Congress in the United States covering port security and to which an online gambling measure was added at the last moment...
. On September 29, 2008, Brown voted for the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (Division A of , commonly referred to as a bailout of the U.S. financial system, is a law enacted in response to the subprime mortgage crisis...
.
On her 2010 political courage test at www.votesmart.org, Corrine stated that she supports decriminalization of marijuana (moving from schedule 1 to presumably a lower schedule). This means if someone is caught with small personal amounts it would presumably be a fine instead of an arrest. She supports increasing funding for drug treatment programs; rather than building more prisons. If a doctor says that a patient can benefit from marijuana, she supports we listen to the doctor rather than listening to the police.
Controversies
In 1998, Brown was questioned by the House Ethics Committee about receiving a $10,000 check from National Baptist ConventionNational Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.
The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. is the largest predominantly African-American Christian denomination in the United States and is the world's second largest Baptist denomination...
leader, and long-time associate, Henry Lyons
Henry Lyons
Reverend Henry J. Lyons is a former President of the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc..-Early life:Henry was raised by his grandfather, a Deacon named Booker T. Lyons. His own father, who was only 16 when Henry was born, played a minimal role in his childhood. He attended Gibbs Junior College...
. Brown confirmed receiving the check and denied she had used the money improperly. Brown said that she had taken the check and converted it into another check made out to Pameron Bus Tours to pay for transportation to a rally she organized in Tallahassee. She said that she didn't have to report the money, and that she had been cleared, explaining the rally was to protest the reorganization of her district lines, and she did not use it for herself.
The Federal Election Commission admonished Brown and Brown's former campaign treasurer quit after he discovered that his name had been forged on her campaign reports. The staffer alleged to have forged the treasurer's signature stayed with Brown and as of 1998 was her chief of staff.
On June 9, 1998, the Congressional Accountability Project voted to conduct a formal inquiry regarding Brown. The Project called for the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to determine if Brown had violated House Rule 10. One of the complaints was that Brown's adult daughter, Shantrel Brown, had received a luxury automobile as a gift from an agent of a Gambian millionaire named Foutanga Sissoko. Sissoko, a friend of Congresswoman Brown, had been imprisoned in Miami after pleading guilty to charges of bribing a customs officer. Brown had worked to secure his release, pressuring U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno
Janet Reno
Janet Wood Reno is a former Attorney General of the United States . She was nominated by President Bill Clinton on February 11, 1993, and confirmed on March 11...
to deport Sissoko back to his homeland as an alternative to continued incarceration. The Project held this violated the House gift rule, but Brown denied she had acted improperly. The congressional subcommittee investigating Brown found insufficient evidence to issue a Statement of Alleged Violation, but said she had acted with poor judgment in connection with Sissoko.
On February 25, 2004 Brown referred to the Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
policies on Haiti as "racist", and called his representatives as a "bunch of white men" during a briefing on the Haiti crisis with senior State Department officials and several members of Congress.
Assistant Secretary of State
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
Roger Noriega
Roger Noriega
Roger Francisco Noriega is currently a visiting fellow at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute. He has previously served as a U.S...
, said that, as a Mexican American, he deeply resented "being called a racist and branded a white man," to which Brown replied, "you all look alike to me." Brown initially refused to consider apologizing, but later issued a statement saying, "I sincerely did not mean to offend Secretary Noriega or anyone in the room. Rather, my comments, as they relate to 'white men,' were aimed at the policies of the Bush administration as they pertain to Haiti, which I do consider to be racist," she said. "However people read it, it wasn't meant that way," she said, noting that she was personally insulted by the "anti-Haiti sentiment brought to the table" by the officials in attendance. Hispanic representatives in Florida were more ambivalent than scornful, with Mike Cordero of the Hispanic Organization of North Florida saying, "We're not taking this as Mrs. Brown is necessarily against us. She just took a poetic license. To us, it doesn't hold any charge. It's kind of funny."
In July 2004 Brown was rebuked by the House of Representatives after she referred to the disputed 2000 presidential election
United States presidential election in Florida, 2000
The 2000 United States presidential election in Florida took place on November 7, 2000 as it did in the other 49 states and D.C., which was part of the 2000 United States presidential election...
in Florida as a "coup d'état". This comment came during floor debate over HR-4818, which would have provided for international monitoring of the 2004 U.S. presidential election.
In June 2007, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is a nonprofit 501 organization that describes itself as "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials – regardless of party affiliation – who sacrifice the common good to...
released a report listing Brown's daughter Shantrel Brown-Fields as a congressional lobbyist; the organization maintains that Congressional relatives working as lobbyists for special interests are a conflict of interest for lawmakers. Brown-Fields is employed by Alcalde & Fayte, with clients including ITERA, Miami-Dade County Commission, and Edward Waters College
Edward Waters College
-External links:* -- Official web site** at * Florida's Office of Cultural and Historical Programs** **...
. In 2006, Brown's campaign committee paid her daughter's husband, Tyree Fields, $5,500 for political consulting work. Rep. Brown has earmarked millions of dollars in federal funding for her daughter's client Edward Waters College.
1992
After the 1990 census, the Florida legislature carved out a new Third Congressional District in the northern part of the state. This district was designed to enclose an African-American majority within its boundaries. A horseshoe-shaped district touching on largely African-American neighborhoods in JacksonvilleJacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...
, Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, and Ocala
Ocala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...
, the Third District seemed likely to send Florida's first African-American to Congress since Reconstruction, and Brown decided to run.
Brown faced several candidates in the 1992 Democratic primary, but the strongest opponent to emerge was Andy Johnson, a white talk radio host from Jacksonville. Brown defeated Johnson in the primary and in a two-candidate runoff, and went on to win the general election in November 1992.
In 1995, the boundaries of the Third District were struck down by the Supreme Court due to their irregular shape. One of the main instigators of the lawsuit that led to the redistricting was Brown's old political rival, Andy Johnson. Brown railed against the change, complaining that "[t]he Bubba I beat [Johnson] couldn't win at the ballot box [so] he took it to court," as she was quoted as saying in the New Republic. Although the district lines were redrawn, Brown still won the 1996 election.
Campaign Finances
During her 2009-2010 campaign, Corrine Brown raised up to $966,669 from fundraising. Brown’s top contributors included CSX Corporation, a freight transportation company with its headquarters in Jacksonville, FL, Carnival Corp., Picerne Real Estate Group, Union Pacific Corp and Berkshire Hathaway. Brown’s top industry contributors included those railroads, lawyers/farm firms, real estate, transportation unions, and sea transportation. Top sectors in Brown's 2009-2010 campaign include Transportation, Lawyers & Lobbyists,Labor, Construction,Finance/Insurance/Real Estate. During her campaining, the largest source of funds was given by large individual companies, which accounted for 54% of the contributions, and PAC contributions, which accounted for 36%. Sources of funds also included small individual contributions, self financing on Brown's part and other sources.On June 1, 2009, Brown announced she would form an exploratory committee
Exploratory Committee
In the election politics of the United States, an exploratory committee is an organization established to help determine whether a potential candidate should run for an elected office. They are most often cited in reference to United States Presidential hopefuls, prior to the primaries.Exploratory...
for a possible run for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Mel Martinez
Mel Martinez
Melquíades Rafael Martínez Ruiz, usually known as Mel Martinez , is a former United States Senator from Florida and served as Chairman of the Republican Party from November 2006 until October 19, 2007, the first Latino to serve as chairman of a major party...
saying, "These are challenging times for Florida. Our economy is in a shambles and our families are hurting. Charlie Crist may be good at taking pictures and making promises, but what has he actually accomplished?" In October 2009, it was announced that Brown will not run for Senate, and will seek re-election in the House of Representatives.
External links
- U.S. Congresswoman Corrine Brown official U.S. House site
- Corrine Brown for Congress official campaign site