Betty Brown

Betty J. Brown (born August 20, 1939) is a former member of the Texas House of Representatives from Terrell, Texas.
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.

Controversy

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.

2010 election

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. On March 4, 2014, Gooden, supported by Speaker Joe Straus, was himself unseated by intra-party rival Stuart Spitzer in the primary election.