The Times Examiner wholeheartedly endorses Stephen Brown in the Republican primary for Congress to replace Congressman Trey Gowdy who has chosen not to seek reelection. Loyal readers of this paper will likely recognize how unusual it is for the Times Examiner to provide an editorial endorsement to a candidate for any office. We believe that this candidate and this office, at this time, create an exceptional set of circumstances that compel us to help clarify the convoluted picture created by twelve candidates running for this Congressional seat, none of whom had significant name recognition prior to entering this race.
Stephen Brown is a true conservative stalwart, having actively led fights for our Christian conservative movement for years: longer than a couple of his competitors have been alive. This writer has known Stephen for more than twenty-five years. He served as an officer of the Greenville County Republican Party back in the early 1990s, and as Chairman of that organization from 1995 to 1997. Prior to completing his education and moving to the Upstate, Stephen Brown had been a Youth for Reagan leader and attended the 1980 Republican National Convention where Governor Ronald Reagan was first nominated by the Republican Party to be President of the United States. No objective reader could doubt Stephen’s commitment and stellar record, on behalf of our conservative movement for decades, across the board, particularly to include his strong pro-life stand.
In addition to his unquestionable conservative bona fides, what truly sets Stephen Brown apart from the competition is his impressive background and thorough preparedness to serve South Carolina in the United States Congress. Stephen is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University and the University of South Carolina School of Law. He is recognized by the South Carolina Supreme Court as a specialist in Employment and Labor Law, is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and, has practiced law right here in Greenville for 33 years. Of particular note in his background, of the six “top tier” candidates invited to take part in the Greenville Tea Party/WORD debate this week, Stephen Brown is the only one to have served our nation in uniform. Stephen proudly served as an officer in the United States Navy Reserve and has great admiration and deep respect for our country’s veterans from all branches of the service.
Anyone who has had the opportunity to work with Stephen Brown and come to know him over the years has seen that he is a man of integrity. He has been married to his wife, Debbie, for 32 years, and they have together raised three children who are now each productive and successful adults. Stephen and Debbie are active members of Mauldin First Baptist Church. Stephen is impressive and firm, but measured, in his speech. When he talks, people listen. He is always prepared and knows what he is talking about. In that fashion, Stephen is much like our current Congressman, Trey Gowdy.
The United States faces turbulent times, both at home and around the world. Our national debt now exceeds 21 trillion dollars and is growing rapidly. As a nation, we cannot continue “business as usual” in Washington. Stephen knows this and has campaigned on changing the Republican leadership in Congress to better support President Trump and fully enact the Trump agenda into law. From border security, to stopping illegal immigration and sanctuary cities, to making the recent income tax cuts permanent, Stephen Brown supports the Trump agenda from top to bottom. In fact, Stephen has been on record with these same positions for years. You can learn more about Stephen Brown at his campaign’s website at “votestephenbrown.com.”
Those of us who have been in the trenches for our conservative principles for a while have seen Stephen Brown demonstrate both his intellectual capabilities and his bulldog determination to fight for those principles. It was Stephen Brown who many years ago recognized the need for stopping Democrats from voting in Republican primaries and helped get language into the South Carolina Republican Party platform supporting closed primaries. Once that was accomplished and “Republicans” controlled the House, Senate and Governor’s Mansion in Columbia, Stephen as well as the rest of us, thought that the “Republican” majorities would enact the party’s platform into law. Of course, over time, we all learned that the Republican swamp in Columbia had no intention of limiting who could select Republican nominees because it was not in its interest to do so. Stephen Brown was the lead counsel for the Greenville County Republican Party, pro bono, “for free,” in a lawsuit against the State of South Carolina to strike down as unconstitutional the election laws that continue to permit Democrats to interfere in Republican primaries. After a couple of years of litigation, once the case was actually scheduled for trial, the South Carolina Republican Party Chairman at the time, Chad Connelly, personally, directed the lawyers for the SCGOP to voluntarily dismiss the case. Mr. Connelly resigned as the unpaid state party chairman the next day after having been reelected only a few weeks earlier to a second two-year term and, immediately took a significant paid position with the Republican National Committee. That action divested the federal court of jurisdiction and concluded the litigation without the merits of the case being addressed. As a result, our South Carolina primaries remain open to interference even to this day while RINO’s continue to be nominated as Republican candidates for office with the support of Democrats voting in our Republican primaries. In this Congressional race, the same Chad Connelly now endorses Josh Kimbrell.
Stephen Brown has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to fight for principle rather than support the establishment Republican Party leadership. The 4th District needs a well prepared and aggressive conservative Congressman to fight for us in Washington. Stephen is uniquely qualified for this task and has a long public record to prove where he stands on the important issues of our time. For these reasons, the Times Examiner endorses Stephen Brown for Congress and urges all of its readers to seriously consider a vote for Stephen Brown in the Republican primary on Tuesday, June 12th.
