Background
Brown, Betty was born on August 20, 1939.
Brown, Betty was born on August 20, 1939.
Attended, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.
A Republican, she represented House District 4 from 1999 to 2011. She was first elected to the position in 1998 from a district including Kaufman and Hunt counties. After two terms, her district was switched to Kaufman and Henderson counties, as far east as Athens, Texas.
She ran for reelection to a seventh term, but in the March primary of 2010, she lost her seat to Lance Gooden, her former legislative aide.
She ignited a firestorm in 2009 when, while the Texas House Elections Committee was hearing testimony on the voting difficulties encountered by Asian Americans who use two different names, she suggested that Asian-Americans adopt names that are "easier for Americans to deal with." Though at first defending her statement, accusing Democrats of making the issue "about race," she eventually apologized for the incident, acknowledging the "diversity of Texas" and the "enrichment" that Asian-Americans bring to the state.
Married Ron; 3 children.