Ted Brown (Texas)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Ted Brown
Image of Ted Brown
Elections and appointments
Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Linsly School

Bachelor's

University of California, Los Angeles, 1984

Personal
Birthplace
Steubenville, Ohio
Religion
Unaffiliated
Profession
Insurance
Contact

Ted Brown (Libertarian Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Texas. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Ted Brown was born in Steubenville, Ohio. He earned his B.A. in political science with a concentration in constitutional law from UCLA in 1984. His career experience includes working in the insurance industry. Brown has been affiliated with the following organizations:[1][2]

  • Libertarian Party of Texas
  • Texans for Accountable Government (TAG)
  • Amnesty International
  • Liberty International
  • Institute for Justice
  • Future of Freedom Foundation
  • antiwar.com

Elections

2024

See also: United States Senate election in Texas, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Texas

Incumbent Ted Cruz defeated Colin Allred, Ted Brown, Analisa Roche, and Tracy Andrus in the general election for U.S. Senate Texas on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz (R)
 
53.1
 
5,990,741
Image of Colin Allred
Colin Allred (D) Candidate Connection
 
44.6
 
5,031,249
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.4
 
267,039
Image of Analisa Roche
Analisa Roche (Independent) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
1,906
Image of Tracy Andrus
Tracy Andrus (Independent) (Write-in) Candidate Connection
 
0.0
 
919

Total votes: 11,291,854
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Colin Allred
Colin Allred Candidate Connection
 
58.9
 
569,585
Image of Roland Gutierrez
Roland Gutierrez
 
16.6
 
160,978
Image of Mark A. Gonzalez
Mark A. Gonzalez
 
8.8
 
85,228
Image of Meri Gomez
Meri Gomez Candidate Connection
 
4.6
 
44,166
Image of Carl Sherman Sr.
Carl Sherman Sr. Candidate Connection
 
3.3
 
31,694
Image of Ahmad Hassan
Ahmad Hassan Candidate Connection
 
2.3
 
21,855
Image of Steve Keough
Steve Keough Candidate Connection
 
2.3
 
21,801
Heli Rodriguez Prilliman
 
1.9
 
18,801
Image of Thierry Tchenko
Thierry Tchenko Candidate Connection
 
1.4
 
13,395

Total votes: 967,503
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas

Incumbent Ted Cruz defeated Holland Gibson and Rufus Lopez in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Texas on March 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz
 
88.3
 
1,977,961
Holland Gibson
 
6.0
 
134,011
Rufus Lopez
 
5.7
 
127,986

Total votes: 2,239,958
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas

Ted Brown advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. Senate Texas on April 14, 2024.

Candidate
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Brown in this election.

2022

See also: Texas House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Texas House of Representatives District 50

Incumbent James Talarico defeated Victor Johnson and Ted Brown in the general election for Texas House of Representatives District 50 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of James Talarico
James Talarico (D) Candidate Connection
 
76.8
 
36,881
Image of Victor Johnson
Victor Johnson (R) Candidate Connection
 
20.2
 
9,718
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection
 
2.9
 
1,392

Total votes: 47,991
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 50

Incumbent James Talarico defeated David Alcorta in the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 50 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of James Talarico
James Talarico Candidate Connection
 
78.5
 
9,117
Image of David Alcorta
David Alcorta Candidate Connection
 
21.5
 
2,497

Total votes: 11,614
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 50

Victor Johnson advanced from the Republican primary for Texas House of Representatives District 50 on March 1, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Victor Johnson
Victor Johnson Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
2,396

Total votes: 2,396
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 50

Ted Brown advanced from the Libertarian convention for Texas House of Representatives District 50 on March 12, 2022.

Candidate
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020

Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Republican primary)

Texas' 17th Congressional District election, 2020 (March 3 Democratic primary)

General election

General election for U.S. House Texas District 17

Pete Sessions defeated Rick Kennedy and Ted Brown in the general election for U.S. House Texas District 17 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions (R)
 
55.9
 
171,390
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy (D) Candidate Connection
 
40.9
 
125,565
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection
 
3.2
 
9,918

Total votes: 306,873
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary runoff election

Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17

Rick Kennedy defeated David Jaramillo in the Democratic primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
57.3
 
13,496
Image of David Jaramillo
David Jaramillo Candidate Connection
 
42.7
 
10,054

Total votes: 23,550
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary runoff election

Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17

Pete Sessions defeated Renee Swann in the Republican primary runoff for U.S. House Texas District 17 on July 14, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions
 
53.5
 
18,524
Image of Renee Swann
Renee Swann
 
46.5
 
16,096

Total votes: 34,620
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17

Rick Kennedy and David Jaramillo advanced to a runoff. They defeated William Foster III in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Rick Kennedy
Rick Kennedy Candidate Connection
 
47.9
 
22,148
Image of David Jaramillo
David Jaramillo Candidate Connection
 
35.0
 
16,170
Image of William Foster III
William Foster III Candidate Connection
 
17.1
 
7,887

Total votes: 46,205
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Pete Sessions
Pete Sessions
 
31.6
 
21,667
Image of Renee Swann
Renee Swann
 
19.0
 
13,047
Image of George Hindman
George Hindman
 
18.1
 
12,405
Image of Elianor Vessali
Elianor Vessali Candidate Connection
 
9.2
 
6,283
Scott Bland
 
7.2
 
4,947
Image of Trent Sutton
Trent Sutton Candidate Connection
 
5.2
 
3,593
Image of Todd Kent
Todd Kent Candidate Connection
 
3.5
 
2,367
Image of Kristen Alamo Rowin
Kristen Alamo Rowin Candidate Connection
 
1.7
 
1,183
Image of Laurie Godfrey McReynolds
Laurie Godfrey McReynolds Candidate Connection
 
1.6
 
1,105
David Saucedo
 
1.4
 
975
Jeffrey Oppenheim (Unofficially withdrew)
 
0.7
 
483
Image of Ahmad Adnan
Ahmad Adnan Candidate Connection
 
0.7
 
477

Total votes: 68,532
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Libertarian convention

Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17

Ted Brown advanced from the Libertarian convention for U.S. House Texas District 17 on March 21, 2020.

Candidate
Image of Ted Brown
Ted Brown (L) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Ted Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am a lifelong Libertarian activist who advocates for personal freedom and economic freedom. Government at all levels is much too large and must be cut back severely. Democrats and Republicans want to control our lives in different ways. I just want to be left alone and want you to be left alone as well. I have been married for 40 years to Laura and have an adult daughter named Katie. I am self-employed as an independent insurance claims adjuster. I was recently Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Travis County and currently serve on the State Libertarian Executive Committee. I am not beholden to any special interest groups or corrupt party leaders, like my opponents are. I am beholden to the U. S. Constitution, the people of Texas, and to the inherent human rights and individual liberty of each person. I believe in the Bill of Rights. I am opposed to any political leaders having emergency powers, since this is just an excuse to create emergencies. I believe in cutting taxes, cutting spending, free trade, more and easier legal immigration, a non-interventionist foreign policy, police reform, judicial reform, and educational choice. I will always stand up for the right of the individual against government power and control. You don't have to vote for Democrats and Republicans. They have wrecked this country. Try voting Libertarian for a change -- a big change!
  • The $35 trillion national debt is unsustainable. Interest on the debt is now the largest budget item, more than miliary defense and more than Social Security. The Federal Reserve creates money out of thin air. This is why there has been so much inflation. It's all about the money supply. To control inflation and to put a hold on increasing the debt, we need to stop deficit spending. This has to involve massive cuts in the federal budget in every single program and department. We also need to abolish the Federal Reserve (the nation's central bank) and instead have a strong currency backed by gold and silver, with other competing forms of exchange as well.
  • Immigration is good for this country and should be encouraged. Unlike what we see in the media, immigrants come here to work and to seek better lives for themselves and their families, not to go on welfare. They need to be able to work from Day One, rather than being on welfare programs while awaiting work permits. I favor an Ellis Island-style immigration system where immigrants just need to come in officially, sign in, be checked for criminal records and contagious diseases, and then be welcomed in. And no, immigrants do not commit a lot of crimes. Their crime rate is much lower than that of native-born Americans. Both of my grandfathers were immigrants, and I'm quite happy they were allowed to come here.
  • The war on drugs is a war on the American people and always has been. Most people now want marijuana to be legal, especially for medical purposes. The federal government must take marijuana off the schedule of controlled substances completely and repeal all marijuana laws. No one should go to jail for a plant. Even for harder drugs, I believe that adults have the right to choose to put any substances in their bodies that they want to. To be sure those substances are not adulterated, they must be completely legal. Anyone who is jail or prison for a non-violent drug offense should be released and their record expunged.
I am particularly upset when individuals who just want to live their lives and be left alone are abused by government agents. People should be able to open businesses and engage in the occupation of their choice without government roadblocks at every turn. I believe in the free market, where people freely trade with each other without government regulations and controls. I am also passionately anti-war and oppose this country's decades-long intervention into the affairs of other countries. We should not be the world's policeman. As George Washington said, "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none." We should not be the arms merchant/death merchant of the world.
Voters elect representatives to use independent judgment about the best policies for the country. Instead of independent thought, however, Republican and Democratic politicians are controlled by special interest groups and corrupt party leaders. They seem to just care about what their corporate sponsors want. They also follow talking points instead of doing the deep analysis often needed on complicated issues. My pledge to the people of Texas is that I will not fall prey to lobbyists and special interests. I will be a true independent voice for liberty in the U. S. Senate. If a bill violates peoples' personal freedom or economic freedom (and certainly if it's unconstitutional), I will vote NO.
I would like to leave a freer society, a freer country than I was born into. Anything I can do to turn back the growth of government, I would consider a success.
The event that made me interested in politics was Watergate. When I was 14, I watched the Nixon impeachment hearings on TV and was fascinated by how the president's crimes were brought forth so clearly. My parents hated Nixon, so that colored my view a bit also. But this led me to read everything I could about current events, political history, etc., an interest I still have today.
My father owned a furniture store. Starting at age 11, I was working at the store after school and on weekends. I kept gaining more responsibilities, and by age 13, I was in charge or inventory control and ordering merchandise. I worked in the store until I was 17. Kids are quite capable if given the chance. These days, kids aren't given enough responsibilities and are coddled from learning about the real world. That is going to be a real problem in the future.
Massive unsustainable debt. Democrats and Republicans having alternative views of reality. The possibility of sleepwalking into World War III with either Russia or China or both unless we change our misguided foreign policy. Young people not learning how to critically think.
I believe in limiting Senators to two six-year terms, or twelve years altogether.
I will be happy to filibuster any bill that violates peoples' personal freedom or economic freedom.
I will work with any Senator who will promote personal freedom or economic freedom, and I will vigorously oppose any Senator who wants to reduce either of those.
Are they qualified? Will they uphold the Constitution? Are they beholden to the American people, or just to the President who appointed them? Of course, many cabinet-level departments should be abolished completely, so there is no need to confirm anyone. The ones that come to mind immediately are the Department of Education and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (drug czar's office).
There is currently no transparency or accountability. The federal government spends over $6 trillion per year, much of which is deficit spending. $1 trillion is spent by the Dept. of Defense (the Pentagon), which has never passed an audit, and no one knows where hundreds of billions of dollars have disappeared to. Most of the federal budget is on autopilot. This has to change, though most Members of Congress have no motivation to do so, since they get campaign contributions from corporations, labor unions, and wealthy people who want their piece of the taxpayer's pie.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign website

Brown’s campaign website stated the following:

Emergency Powers
We learned during the recent COVID-19 pandemic that government officials can impose arbitrary rules and regulations on all U. S. residents without due process of law. This includes not only elected officials like the President, Governors, and Mayors, but also unelected bureaucrats like health department officials. Libertarians opposed the pandemic restrictions and would limit the power of officials to impose such rules and regulations in the future.

I opposed the arbitrary lockdown rules imposed on most Americans starting in March 2020. No one should be limited in their public movements unless they are known to have a contagious disease, and no testing was even available then to know who was infected. The designation of some businesses as “essential” and other businesses as “non-essential” was completely arbitrary. Government officials throughout the country were in total violation of the 14th Amendment, which says that no State shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” There was no due process of law, considering there was no process to challenge a “non-essential” designation, and courts were even closed for a while.

Under our republican form of government, which has a balance of powers between three branches of government, the Legislative Branch is responsible for passing laws, while the Executive Branch is responsible for implementing and enforcing laws. The Legislature has no right to turn its powers over to the Executive. One person should not be making arbitrary, often dictatorial decisions. This is true for the federal, state, and local level. Americans fought a revolution about that in 1776!

The President issues Executive Orders on a regular basis, not just to impose COVID regulations. In fact, in the last 100 years, presidents from both major parties have issued 10,481 Executive Orders. The most famous is Roosevelt’s placement of people of Japanese descent in internment camps during the Second World War. But every President tries to impose their will arbitrarily, without gojng through the Constitutional requirement that Congress pass all laws. Yes, going by the book is often clunky and time-consuming, but that is how we protect the rights of all Americans. I will introduce a bill to require every Executive Order to be approved by Congress before it can go into effect and to revisit all existing orders the same way.

Police Reform
Police officers are called upon to enforce all of the laws passed by federal, state, and local officials. This means that every law, no matter how trivial, is enforced at gunpoint and enforced selectively. Indeed, members of minority groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are often targeted by police.

The recent high-profile death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the resulting protests made more Americans aware of police brutality and police harassment than ever before. Libertarians have been aware of the problem since the party was founded in 1971 and have sought reforms that are suddenly being proposed by politicians from other parties, though a bit late.

The following reforms would go a long way to protecting the civil liberties and human rights of all Americans, and especially members of minority communities.

  • End the War on Drugs, especially marijuana prohibition. Drug laws give police excuse to search peoples’ homes, cars, and bodies whenever they have “suspicion” that the person has some drugs. This often leads to unnecessary violence. This is a violation of the 4th Amendment and must end.
  • End mandatory minimum sentences. Drug offenses are punished by very long, mandatory sentences at the federal level and in many states. African-Americans are arrested more frequently and usually receive much harsher sentences than white people, though whites and blacks use drugs at about the same rate.
  • End the militarization of police. Under Section 1033, a federal law, surplus military equipment like tanks, grenade launchers, etc. are available to local police departments. Police have gone from being “peace officers” to being warriors, thus making the average citizen seem like an “enemy” to be fought instead of a neighbor to be protected.
  • End “no-knock” warrants. Police often serve search warrants in the middle of the night and just storm into people’s homes without knocking, waiting, and properly identifying themselves. This leads to danger for both police and residents, as people being wakened out of a sound sleep can’t expect to know that police are entering their homes.
  • Promote “de-escalation” of tense situations. Police must be trained to talk to people and listen and try to resolve situations without violence. Too often, police encounters lead to needless death or injury because officers are told to “control” every situation, even ones they should just walk away from.
  • End “qualified immunity” for police officers and other government officials (like prosecutors) who violate peoples’ rights. Federal courts have limited the right of people to sue for violation of their civil rights by police. This must change.
  • Move investigations of police misconduct away from the local police and prosecutors and instead to the state Attorney General’s office. Police shouldn’t be investigating themselves, since they usually find that they didn’t do anything wrong.
  • Require police officers to buy liability insurance in order to work as an officer. This means that their record would have to pass the test of an objective insurance company, so no officer could work if he had too many instances of misconduct on his record. The added bonus would be that insurance companies would pay to settle claims against police, not taxpayers. And since they don’t want to pay those claims, insurance companies will be very careful regarding whom they insure.
  • Stop involving police in situations like traffic enforcement, code enforcement, wellness checks, and other situations that don’t involve dangerous criminals. Unarmed community service officers or mental health professionals can be sent on calls like this, in most instances. And in the case of traffic stops, most of them can just be eliminated. Police are often stopping people for revenue purposes for the local city government, not for safety concerns.
  • Limit police unions to collective bargaining for wages and financial benefits only. There should be no contracts that limit investigation and discipline of officers who engage in misconduct.

Healthcare

“If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free.”
– P. J. O’Rourke, author

Health care is not a right or a privilege. It’s a service, and like other goods and services, it should be provided by free-market competition.

The U. S. once had the finest health care system in the world. The standard of care was growing by leaps and bounds. Health care was reasonably priced, so that most people didn’t even feel the need to buy health insurance except for catastrophic illnesses. Doctors and hospitals voluntarily provided free health care to the poor. Doctors were happy with their work.

Not anymore. Since the 1960s, there has been an ongoing health care crisis in America, one that has resulted in ever-increasing health care costs that threaten to bankrupt people. Moreover, many doctors hate their profession and choose to retire as soon as they can.

The main reason for this is the federal government’s heavy intervention into health care, consisting of (1) Medicare and Medicaid, two programs enacted in the 1960s, which have placed extraordinary financial demands on America’s health-care system; (2) occupational licensing, which artificially limits the supply of health care providers; (3) an ever-growing, intricate web of health care regulations and tax regulations that warp and distort the health care industry; and (4) the excessive costs of prescription drugs due to Food & Drug Administration (FDA) certification requirements.

Some immediate reforms would be to promote Medical Savings Accounts (similar to IRA’s); make health care expenses tax-deductible; allow people to buy health insurance across state lines; allow insurance companies to offer limited, catastrophic policies; replace the FDA with private sector drug certification; and allow people to buy drugs from other countries, and even over-the-counter without prescriptions.

Ultimately, the solution to what Democrats and Republicans have done to destroy what was once the greatest health-care system in the world is a total separation of health care and state. That means the repeal, not the reform, of Medicare, Medicaid, occupational licensing, and health care and tax regulations.

Taxes, Government Spending, and the National Debt

“The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.“
– Albert Einstein

Taxes are always too high, at the federal, state, and local levels. Elected officials are thirsty for more of our money to finance their programs and big plans (or more accurately, boondoggles) and to pay off their big campaign contributors. I will never vote to raise taxes.

Democratic and Republican politicians are always quite willing to raise taxes. Sure, Republicans cut tax rates sometimes (but fail to cut spending), but taxes at all levels are at historic high levels. Half of what we earn goes to taxes at the federal, state, and local levels. The federal income tax is the biggest government intrusion into the lives of the American people, to the tune of $2.6 trillion to be extracted from us in Fiscal Year 2022. It forces every worker to be a bookkeeper, to open his records to the government, to explain his expenses, and to fear conviction for a harmless accounting error. Compliance wastes hundreds of billions of dollars. The income tax discourages savings and creates an enormous drag on the U.S. economy.

The federal government is way too large and interferes in too many aspects of our lives. We must get rid of the hundreds of federal agencies and programs that violate our rights and drag down the economy at the same time. Sadly, it’s next to impossible to end a government program, since each program has beneficiaries and supporters who will fight to keep their place at the public trough. I want to combine massive spending cuts into a single package that includes the largest tax cut in American history — the total repeal of the federal income tax. The 100.6 million Americans who pay federal income tax would each see an average of $25,844 per person back in their pockets.

There are proposals to replace the income tax with a flat tax or a national sales tax. I will work to repeal the income tax, abolish the IRS, and replace them with nothing. Even without the personal income tax, the federal government would still collect the same total amount that they did 12 years ago – and the government was much too large even then. The Constitution allows only a limited role for the federal government, such as national defense, the post office and patents and copyrights. By reducing the federal government to it proper level, we could not only do away with the income tax, but the estate tax, capital gains tax and Social Security tax as well.

Not only does the federal government collect too much money, it spends much more than it collects, and budget deficits keep growing each year. The national debt doubled under President George W. Bush, doubled again under President Barack Obama, and went up $7 trillion under President Donald Trump, and has risen $6 trillion since President Joe Biden was elected. It now exceeds $33 trillion – $97,000 for every man, woman, and child in this country. No one seems to care – except Libertarians. Only Libertarians will cut spending, cut the deficit, and stop adding to this insane debt level that is totally unsustainable.

Gun Rights

“Arms in the hands of the citizen may be used at individual discretion for the defense of the country, for private self-defense, or for the overthrow of tyranny.”
– President John Adams

Libertarians strongly defend the 2nd Amendment and support the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. The right to own a gun is an American tradition. We would never have won our independence from Great Britain had our colonists not been armed and able to fight the King’s army. Guns by themselves are not dangerous. If someone uses a gun to commit a crime, he should be punished. But disarming law-abiding citizens does nothing to reduce crime.

Those who support gun control should recognize that the cities with the strictest gun control laws (like Chicago and Washington, D. C.) also have the highest murder rates involving guns. Criminals will always be able to get guns. Peaceful citizens need to protect themselves. I will work to repeal existing gun control laws, and will oppose any attempts to limit the gun ownership of law-abiding Americans. I am also opposed to “red flag” laws that try to anticipate if someone will commit a crime. Such laws are open to abuse and violation of due process.

Immigration
People all over the world want to come to the United States to escape political repression, economic stagnation, and other kinds of persecution. This has been the case for 400 years, since the first colonists arrived. One of my great-grandfathers was a Lithuanian Jew who fled anti-Semitism in Czarist Russia in 1890. Another great-grandfather fled forced military service in Germany in 1904.

Ever since Democrats and Republicans enacted a system of immigration controls way back in 1924, there has been a never-ending immigration crisis. This is driven by people having varying views on who should be allowed to come here, often tainted by religious, ethnic, or racial prejudice, or the false view that immigrants are a drain on the economy. We first saw the cruelty of these laws in the 1930s, when European Jews fleeing Nazi tyranny were denied entry to the U. S.

Any time Congress tries to reform the problem they created, they have failed miserably. This has caused untold suffering, as well as the creation of an immigration police state, especially in southwestern states like Texas.

Examples abound, including domestic highway checkpoints; warrantless federal trespasses onto ranches and farms; warrantless searches on Greyhound buses; forced deportations; raids on private businesses; forcible separation of children from parents; and abuse of people seeking refugee status. This has led to much death and suffering, not to mention the massive infringements on the liberty and privacy of the American people (such as with E-Verify requirements to find work).

As with most issues, the solution is to embrace economic liberty and free markets. That necessarily means the free movement of people across international borders, in the same way that people freely cross state borders within the United States. I oppose building even one more foot of border wall for this reason. Deportations should stop, except for violent criminals. The federal government has been finding any excuse to deport immigrants for minor offenses, including U. S. military veterans and their family members. This is not right. The young people who came to this country with their parents and are now in limbo as “Dreamers” in the DACA program should be granted immediate citizenship. This is really the only country they have known.

The U. S. had an open immigration system for more than 100 years, the only system that is consistent with religious, moral, and ethical principles. While it makes sense to prevent known criminals, terrorists, and people with communicable diseases from entering, these categories are a very tiny minority. On the whole, immigrants are good people looking for better lives, and are known to contribute so much to our melting pot of a country.

Foreign Policy

“Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
– President Thomas Jefferson

Libertarians favor a policy of non-intervention in the affairs of other nations. U.S. troops should be here to protect this country. Instead, there are 170,000 U. S. troops stationed in 150 different countries around the globe (out of 193 total countries) — in the Middle East, Europe, Japan, and South Korea. Libertarians would bring all the troops home and advise other countries to pay for their own defense. We should not be involved in alliances like NATO.

Our nation should be the beacon of freedom and liberty in the world, like we were for the first 150 years of our independence. That’s not how much of the world thinks of us now, due to our misguided desire to be the world’s policeman. It is our long record of violent involvement in the Middle East that’s the main problem — from the 1991 Gulf War, to the occupation of Afghanistan, to the 2003 Iraq war and occupation, to trying to pick sides in the Syrian Civil War, to supporting Saudi Arabia’s war against a faction in Yemen. Our troops, our bombs, our drone strikes, and our meddling have created more terrorists every year.

I will vote against any and all military appropriations that would keep our troops in these foreign assignments. The only way to really support our troops is to stop sending them to places where they have no business going.

Additionally, our government currently gives $57 billion of our tax dollars to 164 countries for foreign aid. Some of the aid is military and some is humanitarian, but it is primarily the transfer of wealth from American taxpayers to the elite of other countries. I will work to end all foreign aid payments.

Marijuana and the War on Drugs
Libertarians recognize that if government officials can’t even keep drugs out of prisons, they sure aren’t going to keep drugs out of the country. We must end the insane War on Drugs. This will take the criminal profit out of the illicit drug trade and bring some peace to our cities again. The drug war has been an excuse for police to harass and arrest African-Americans and Latinos for decades, and this must stop.

668,000 people were arrested for marijuana offenses in 2018, more than for murder, rape, robbery and other violent crimes combined. 47% of federal prisoners and 17% of state prisoners are locked in cages for non-violent drug offenses. Often drug users spend more time in jail than murderers or rapists. We need to jail violent criminals, not peaceful drug users.

Democrats and Republicans keep fighting this losing war because it makes them look tough on crime, and it gives them more power over our lives. Libertarians have never signed on to the War on Drugs. We have opposed this war since the 1970s. California Libertarians were the earliest promoters of medical marijuana, since it’s well-known that cannabis relieves pain and other symptoms of a variety of illnesses. Adults must be allowed to put any substances in their bodies that they choose. Libertarians treat people like adults, not like errant children. I will work to repeal all of America’s drug laws, starting with those against marijuana. It must be taken off the schedule of controlled substances immediately.

Free Trade
I believe in free trade. If goods don’t cross borders, troops will. Tariffs are really just taxes on foreign products that must be paid by American consumers. And the tariffs that other countries like China impose on our products hurt U. S. farmers and businesses, since their sales go way down. Congress gave the power to the president to decide by himself when to raise tariffs. I would repeal this law. Congress has no constitutional authority to delegate their legislative powers to the president. The Trump trade wars must end.

There is really no danger in having a trade deficit with another country. I have a trade deficit with Target. I buy a lot of goods from them, but they don’t buy anything from me. And that’s OK, since we each get what we want. I want their products, and they want my money. It’s the same with countries. Our consumers, our farmers, and our businesses all benefit from the free crossing of goods across borders.

Justice System Reform and the Death Penalty
There are thousands of unconstitutional federal laws and regulations. Most of us have violated a few of them without even knowing it. There are 137,000 armed federal agents prepared to enforce them all. We have every reason to fear the federal government. Drug laws, firearms laws, securities laws, “money laundering” laws, tax laws, environmental regulations, “paperwork violations” and similar “crimes” without victims take up a large part of federal law enforcement. There are absurdly long mandatory sentences for these non-offenses, while it’s difficult to even lock up a violent criminal.

The U. S. (combined federal and state) has over 20% of the world’s prison population, with only 4.2% of the world’s population, as well as the highest incarceration rate in the world. Even China and Russia don’t lock people up as extensively as this country does. Americans are not worse people than residents of other countries, but instead we have far too many laws, far too many interactions with police officers, far too many arrests, and far too many tough-on-crime prosecutors who railroad innocent people into prison with no penalty for doing so. This must change.

Civil asset forfeiture is one of the most unjust weapons of government at all levels. If a piece of property (land, car, boat) is suspected of having been used for criminal activity, it is seized by government agents. They don’t even have to arrest you, let alone convict you of a crime, in order to steal your property. In facts, cops steal more property each year than regular thieves do. The property is presumed to be guilty, unless proven innocent. You have to go to court to try to prove a negative — after your assets have been seized and you can’t afford an attorney. Police agencies have been corrupted by this process, since they get to keep the proceeds from the theft of your property. I will work to immediately abolish asset forfeiture as an option for law enforcement.

If you are arrested and brought to trial, the court system is stacked against you. Prosecutors threaten defendants with extremely long sentences if they won’t take a plea bargain deal. At least 95% of all criminal cases result in plea bargains, not trials. For those who do go to trial, it has always been a tradition of common law that the jury can judge the law as well as the facts of a case. Now judges illegally tell jurors that they must follow the law as the judge gives it. In reality, jurors can find a defendant “not guilty” for any reason they choose, such as the law is unjust or misapplied. Defense attorneys are not even allowed to suggest this in court.

I will introduce a law to require judges to tell jurors that they can judge the law as well as the facts of a case; and to permit defense attorneys to defend their clients by saying that the law is wrong. I support the end of jury tampering by both prosecution and defense by seating the first twelve jurors who don’t know the parties involved and have no financial stake in the outcome of the case. I am opposed to mandatory minimum sentences. I support giving jurors the right to set the sentence in all cases — up to a maximum allowed by law.

DEATH PENALTY

I don’t trust government officials enough to allow them to kill people. It is clear that many innocent people have been sentenced to death (especially in the Deep South). It is a fundamental human rights violation to execute an innocent person. That’s why I would err on the side of caution and say that premeditated murderers should face life in prison without possibility of parole instead.

Education

“Innovators and creative geniuses cannot be reared in school. They are precisely the men who defy what the school has taught them.”
– Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973)

The government education system has failed. Kids are not learning what they need to know to compete in a global economy. There is no Constitutional authority for the federal government to be involved in education.

I will work to abolish the federal Department of Education. It doesn’t educate anyone, but merely takes taxpayer money and imposes massive amounts of regulations and mandates on local schools. More money from Washington has given us three generations of Americans who lack basic education in science, math, history, geography, and English composition and literature. Colleges report that a majority of incoming students need remedial courses in English and math, information they should have learned in high school.

Parents and kids have few choices in protesting ineffective educational methods. If they wish to use private schools, they must still pay taxes for government schools. Charter schools show very good results, but they are at the mercy of school boards and government officials who could shut them down in an instant. Some Libertarians support vouchers as a good first step to giving parents a choice. However, this could lead to government control of private schools. The best alternative would be tuition tax credits for parents (or anyone else) who send a child to private school. This will force government schools to compete and will enable parents to educate their kids their way. Schools need competition, like all other aspects of the economy.

We need the complete separation of school and state in order to guarantee decent education for future generations. A lot of parents have gone this route already, by homeschooling their kids. A lot more will follow if the current system doesn’t change.[3]

—Ted Brown’s campaign website (2024)[4]

2022

Candidate Connection

Ted Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am running for State House to promote personal freedom and economic freedom in Texas. I don’t fight in culture wars or use talking points or sound bites. I am not beholden to any special interest groups or corrupt party leaders. I believe that individuals have the right to lead their lives as they see fit, as long as they don’t violate the rights of others, and they take responsibility for their actions. The other candidates have different plans on how to run your life. They will vote for many laws that make decisions for you, rather than you making decisions for yourself. People in government aim to acquire power. My goal is to reduce and eliminate their power over us. You don’t have to vote for Republicans and Democrats. You can see what they have done to this country, and just how divided our country is. It’s time to change the way things are done at the State Capitol, at the U. S. Capitol, and in city halls and county courthouses across this country. Vote Libertarian!
  • We need to severely curtail emergency powers that are given to the president, governor, health officials, county judges, and mayors. If government officials can suspend our Constitutional rights during an emergency, they will always have an excuse to create another emergency.
  • Personal freedom issues: (1) End marijuana prohibition on the way to ending the War on Drugs. Adults should be able to choose what substances go into their bodies. (2) Government should not interfere with doctors and their patients deciding on medical care, including pharmaceutical drug selections, termination of pregnancy, gender changes, end of life decisions, etc. (3) Defend the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.
  • Economic freedom issues: (1) No business closures or medical procedure limitations because of an “emergency.” Always respect constitutional rights. (2) Cut taxes, spending, and regulations across the board. (3) End occupational licensing. (4) Abolish Texas Alcoholic Beverage Control and their alcohol regulations. (5) Eliminate roadblocks to starting new businesses or building more housing.
Besides the key messages of Personal Freedom issues and Economic Freedom issues, I am interested in Police Reform, Criminal Justice Reform, Election Reform, and Government Reform. For example, under Government Reform, I believe in Initiative, Referendum, and Recall at the state level; term limits for state officials; and electing the Secretary of State. For Election Reform, we need to establish Ranked Choice Voting in elections, and make it easier rather than harder for Texans to find election information and vote.
I will take an oath of office to defend the Constitution of the United States and the State of Texas. I take that very seriously. I wish our current elected officials would take it seriously. But when there is a chance to gain more political power, or to please a big campaign contributor, or to make another political party look foolish, or to impose their personal religious views on unwilling Texans, any care our officials may have about the Constitution goes right out the window.
I would like to leave the world a freer and more prosperous place, where people can pursue their dreams without being hampered by government policies. I have been a political activist in the liberty movement for my entire adult life. It's a difficult task to promote freedom, when so many forces are arrayed in the opposite direction, but it's worth the fight. I have an 29-year-old daughter. She will hopefully live in this world a lot longer than I will, and I want her know that I have done what I can to make the world a better place.
My dad had a furniture store, and I started working there after school when I was 11 or 12 years old. I soon had many responsibilities, especially inventory control, ordering merchandise, etc. This was in the 1970s, before computers were common in small businesses, and everything was manual. Kids should be able to work if they want to. It was very valuable to me to learn business skills as a teenager. I am self-employed now myself, but in the insurance industry.
Texas ranks highly in business climate, and I want to make sure it stays that way, and actually gets even better. However, Texas ranks very low on personal freedoms. We need to make changes to marijuana laws, alcohol laws, gambling laws, abortion laws, medical freedom, policing techniques, and oppressive criminal justice policies. If we show needed toleration of different racial and ethnic backgrounds, welcome immigrants, and welcome all who want to better their lives, Texas can become the most diverse state, with the largest state economy, as well as the state with the largest population. We need to leave California, with all their crazy policies, in the dust.
While sometimes there could be a natural disaster where officials need to act quickly for a short time (like a few days), we need to severely curtail emergency powers that are given to the governor, health officials, county judges, and mayors. If government officials can suspend our Constitutional rights during an emergency, they will always have an excuse to create another emergency. There is no provision to ignore the Constitution and Bill of Rights during an emergency. We have separation of powers in this country. Legislators make the laws, which are implemented by the Governor. No one has the right to rule by decree. We fought a revolution about that back in 1776!
Yes. I have a very strong set of principles, but I realize that it will be difficult to get 75 other State House members to agree with me. My goal will be to work with legislators in other parties, if our views overlap. For example, I hope I will be able to work with Republicans on economic issues and with Democrats on civil liberties issues. But I will only vote for bills that advance or expand freedom. I will not vote for any bills that take freedoms away from people.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2020

Candidate Connection

Ted Brown completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Brown's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

I am running as a Libertarian because the two establishment parties keep growing the size of government at all levels. I believe in personal freedom, economic freedom, and limited government. I am the anti-war candidate in the race, since I oppose U. S. military intervention abroad. Candidates from the other parties have plans to run peoples' lives. I want to leave people alone to live their lives as they see fit, as long as they don't violate the rights of others and are willing to take responsibility for their own actions. I am an insurance claims adjuster who lives in Wells Branch in Travis County with my wife Laura. We have an adult daughter named Katie. I have been active in the Libertarian Party for over 40 years, and I am always looking for ways to promote freedom and liberty. Remember, you don't have to vote for a Democrat or Republican. There is a principled alternative in the race.
  • I want to end U. S. military intervention abroad, close our foreign bases, and bring our troops home. We must stop being the world's policeman.
  • I want to end the War on Drugs, starting with ending marijuana prohibition. Adults can make their own choices about what substances to put into their bodies.
  • The massive budget deficits and $23 trillion national debt are unsustainable. Federal spending must be cut across the board, in every department and agency. We just can't afford this massive federal government.
I am passionate about ending foreign wars and bringing our troops home. I have always been opposed to the drug war and think it's horrible that people are put in cages because they prefer marijuana to alcohol. I believe in free trade and oppose tariffs, which are taxes on American consumers. I believe in the 2nd Amendment and the right to keep and bear arms for self-defense. I am opposed to the death penalty. I strongly support criminal justice reform. I believe that immigrants are a positive good for this country, including both of my grandfathers. The "Dreamers" who came here as children should be granted immediate citizenship. Refugees and other immigrants should not be locked up in cages and separated from their children. And I believe in fiscal responsibility, not the insane spending imposed by both Democrats and Republicans, the only thing they seem to agree on.
I will have to swear an oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. I take that very seriously. Most representatives ignore the Constitution if it gets in the way of whatever pie-in-the-sky plan they have to increase government and run peoples' lives. I will always be sure that a bill is constitutional before I vote for it. That will probably mean I will vote against most legislation. Of course, any bill I introduce will (a) be constitutional and (b) reduce the size of government.
I want there to be less government and more freedom for all Americans. Anything I can do to promote human freedom and personal liberty is what's most important as a legacy.
I started working at my family's furniture store when I was 12 years old, and since my dad was the owner, he gave me a lot of responsibility for my age. I was even in charge of ordering merchandise and keeping track of the store's inventory by age 13 and through my teen years. I learned a lot about working, interacting with people, and having responsibilities. Not enough young people get a chance to do this, and it is a great loss to their personal development.
I have read thousands of books and consider myself a serious reader. But I would have to say "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand has been a great influence on me. Rand promotes individual rights, personal initiative, entrepreneurship, and fighting against wrongheaded cultural trends that oppose freedom and liberty. Sadly, the book seems prescient about these trends.
No, I don't believe this is necessary. Congress is supposed to have citizen legislators who go to Washington to do the people's business for a few years and then go back home, where they have to live under the laws they pass. While experience in holding office isn't necessary, knowledge of the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and American History are vital for all representatives. If you are swearing an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, you better know what's in it.
Americans are becoming too dependent on government. This is leading to more government control over our lives. I believe people should take responsibility for their own actions. We shouldn't need politicians and unelected bureaucrats to make decisions for us, but we are getting more and more of them every day. We need to switch gears and start reducing government -- taxes, laws, regulations, licenses, rules. If we don't, we are going to end up losing what freedom we have left.
Elections are supposed to be term limits, but voters amazingly keep electing the same people year-after-year. Congress is very unpopular, but voters don't seem to realize that their own representative is part of that institution. That's why I favor term limits. But I would increase a congressional term from 2 to 4 years, so representatives are not constantly running for re-election. I would reduce the Senate terms from 6 to 4 years. And then limit Senators and Representatives to two 4-year terms, equal to the president having two 4-year terms.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary


Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.


Ted Brown campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* U.S. Senate TexasLost general$13,994 $13,926
2022Texas House of Representatives District 50Lost general$0 $750
2020U.S. House Texas District 17Lost general$3,041 $3,041
Grand total$17,035 $17,717
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 6, 2020.
  2. Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 27, 2022
  3. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  4. Ted Brown, Libertarian for U.S. Senator from Texas, “Platform,” accessed March 3, 2024


Senators
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
Al Green (D)
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
Vacant
District 19
District 20
District 21
Chip Roy (R)
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
Republican Party (27)
Democratic Party (12)
Vacancies (1)