Mike Brown (Kansas politician)
Mike Brown | |
|---|---|
| Chair of the Kansas Republican Party | |
| In office February 11, 2023 – March 1, 2025 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Kuckelman |
| Succeeded by | Danedri Herbert |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Kristi Brown |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Johnson County Community College Kansas State University |
| Website | Campaign website |
Mike Brown is an American politician from Kansas who served as the Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party.[1] In 2022, he challenged incumbent Scott Schwab in that year's Kansas Secretary of State election.
Early life
Brown is a 6th generation Kansan, born and raised in the Kansas City metro area. He graduated from Shawnee Mission Northwest High School as part of the class of 1987, and attended Johnson County Community College and Kansas State University. Brown has worked in construction since high school, opening his own home building firm in 1990 and working as a general contractor.[2]
Political career
Early career
Brown started his political career volunteering for Tim Shallenburger's unsuccessful 2002 bid for governor and two local county commissioner campaigns in 2004 and 2008. In 2016, Mike was elected as a Johnson County (KS) Commissioner. He served in this office until 2021. He has also served in a series of other Kansas roles including Johnson County's Parks and Recreation Commissioner, Vice Chairman of the Kansas State Workforce Development Board, member of the Kansas Black Chamber of Commerce, the 2007 President (and a 12 year board member) of the Homebuilders’ Association of Greater Kansas City. [2][1]
Secretary of State bid
In the 2022 Kansas Secretary of State election, Brown challenged incumbent Secretary of State of Kansas, Scott Schwab, claiming that Schwab was a part of the Republican establishment. Brown’s campaign was based on “Election Integrity First” [3] and lost with 44.76% to Schwab's 55.24%.[3][4][1] Brown blamed Schwab for accepting "Zuckerbucks," when in fact it was Brown who accepted the money as a Johnson County commissioner. At the time, Brown said, “Nice, nice surprise. Nice gift. Thank you very much. Big help. And I’m ready to make a motion.” He claimed Schwab "should have known" where the money came from, but accepted no responsibility that he, himself, should have known.[5]
KSGOP Party Chairman
Mike Brown was elected Kansas GOP Party Chairman in 2022 against Helen Van Etten, a long-time Kansas GOP leader, by a two vote margin. [6] Funds equaling $2,490,388.55 [7]were raised in the 2022-2023 term, not achieving the level of the 2019-2020 term of $3,057,854.23 [8]. Supermajorities in the Kansas Senate and House were increased despite Brown’s "leadership." In addition, key races were lost in Brown's home county, Johnson County, including failure to live up to the promise of reclaiming the 3rd Congressional District seat for Republicans.[9]
Brown's tenure as chair has been marred by controversy. First, his hand-picked rules committee members submitted a proposal to remove Republican affiliated groups such as the Kansas Black Republican Council, Republican National Hispanic Assembly - Kansas, and the Kansas Federation of Republican Women from the state committee. The proposal also included removing Republican elected leaders from the state committee.[10]
Soon after that controversy died down, the Johnson County Republican Party hosted an event where an effigy of President Biden was kicked and beaten repeatedly. Brown had endorsed and helped advertise the event, although he claimed no responsibility for the activities.[11]
During the 2024 Presidential campaign, Brown sought donations to the Donald J. Trump for President campaign under a "bundler number." He utilized Kansas Republican Party resources to contact Republicans across the state to send money with the bundler number. This number would allow him to win perks and curry favor with the Trump campaign. He tried to create doubt about legitimate Trump campaign donation letters, and discouraged Republicans from donating directly to the campaign. [12]
On February 15, 2025, Brown announced that he would not be seeking re-election to another term as chairman.[13] Brown stated that he did so because he had achieved his mission, the re-election of Donald Trump.[13] Danedri Herbert, a spokesperson for Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach, was unopposed in her election replacing him.[13]
Personal life
Brown is married to Kristi Brown who served as the Kansas State Director of the Trump 2024 campaign. The couple live in Overland Park, Kansas and have 5 grown children. [2]
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Scott Schwab (incumbent) | 245,998 | 55.24% | |
| Republican | Mike Brown | 199,316 | 44.76% | |
| Total votes | 445,314 | 100% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Mike Brown | 90 | 50.56% | |
| Republican | Helen Van Etten | 88 | 49.16% | |
| Total votes | 178 | 100% | ||
References
- ^ a b c HANNA, JOHN (February 12, 2023). "Kansas GOP picks election conspiracy promoter as new leader". Associated Press. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ a b c Brown, Mike. "Meet Mike Brown". mikebrownforkansas.com. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ a b Bahl, Andrew (December 7, 2021). "Johnson County lawmaker Mike Brown runs for Kansas secretary of state". www.cjonline.co. The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
- ^ Cooper, Brad (August 30, 2022). "UPDATED: A political return for Mike Brown?". Sunflower State Journal. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ https://kansasreflector.com/2022/06/17/kansas-gop-candidate-accepted-zuckerberg-cash-then-embraced-bogus-election-fraud-claims/
- ^ "Amid tensions, Kansas Republican Party departs from status quo to tap Mike Brown as chair". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
- ^ https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00004606/?cycle=2024
- ^ https://www.fec.gov/data/committee/C00004606/?cycle=2020
- ^ https://fox4kc.com/politics/your-local-election-headquarters/sharice-davids-prasanth-reddy-kansas-district-3-race-results/
- ^ https://www.newsweek.com/kansas-republicans-want-black-women-groups-kicked-off-board-1800049
- ^ https://kansasreflector.com/2024/03/10/biden-beaten-in-effigy-at-kansas-gop-fundraiser-drawing-condemnation-from-fellow-republicans/
- ^ https://www.kansas.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/dion-lefler/article293598139.html
- ^ a b c Harvel, Jack. "Kansas State GOP chair Mike Brown won't seek reelection after one term". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved August 11, 2025.