Harry Brown

Harry Brown (born April 13, 1955) is an American businessman and politician. A Republican, Brown has been a member of the North Carolina State Senate since 2004, and the Senate majority leader since 2011. He represents the state's sixth Senate district, which consists of Jones and Onslow counties. owning a Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep and a Volkswagen-Subaru dealership.

Brown first ran for the North Carolina House as a Democrat in 2002, losing by 61 votes in the primary election. 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. 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 at the Albert J. Ellis Airport, and $500,000 for the Museum of the Marine.

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 in most of Eastern North Carolina. The wind-power ban proposed by Brown was ultimately dropped from the 2019 legislation as part of a compromise.