Political candidates are already making the rounds more than a year out from the 2022 election, traveling the state, getting to know voters, and making decisions about running for office next year. Last week Sam Brown, candidate for U.S. Senate, who will run against Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) as a Republican, visited Fallon, speaking at the Churchill Republican Women meeting.
On 9/11, when the Twin Towers were destroyed, Brown was a senior in high school. He is a West Point man and veteran who served as an infantry platoon leader in Afghanistan in 2008. He told the women’s club that his unit was providing support to another unit when they were ambushed. He suffered disfiguring burns over his face and most of his body, forcing him into medical retirement.
Brown said he is taking on the machine and wants to be the “voice for Nevada.”
Growing up in small-town Arkansas, Brown knows humility and hard work. His dad worked for a dairy farm and was in the National Guard. “Service to country was one of the things Browns do,” he grew up hearing from his family. When he was 10 years old, a catalog came one day in the mailbox from West Point. His dad sat him down and explained, with five kids there was no money for college, so he was expected to work hard in high school with the expectation to serve his country.
“Suffering is a part of the human condition,” said Brown, “which is different from a challenge. A challenge was passing Ranger School and getting my future wife to go on a date with me.” He suffered in the burn unit in Arizona where he was sent from Afghanistan. That is where his wife worked, and they met. She did eventually agree to the date. She retired in 2012, shortly after he received his medical retirement in 2011.
The couple moved to Dallas, where Brown worked in the private sector and began to get involved in politics to fill the vacuum left when his military life was over. They have two children – Roman who is 10 and Ester, age 8. With an MBA under his belt, finally the family decided it was time to choose the place they wanted to live for good. They love the outdoors, and when Brown had the opportunity to work for Amazon in Reno, they made the move. Working in the warehouse 10 hours a day, loading trucks, gave him the time to get his own business off the ground, processing pharmacy claims for VA clinics.
“As a husband, father, small businessman, and veteran I just want to do the best I can,” said Brown. “I’m torn by how much damage politicians can do to our country.”
After much soul-searching, he decided he wanted to run for the Senate, but wasn’t sure how his wife would take that. “I’ve been waiting for you to come to that conclusion,” was her response. “You can do this,” she said, “you’ve been through the crucible.”
Brown doesn’t like the traditional idea of starting in politics with a local race and working up through the party ranks. “Ultimately, weak people have continued to recycle themselves through these elections and I can’t stand back and let my kids be represented by that type of person,” he said. “That other way encourages career politicians.”
He believes one of the biggest threats to the country right now is the damage politicians have done to the economy. He sees the threat from China, saying that country is dominant and assertive and has the ability to project power. The elite political class listen to special interests and the common citizen has no ability to deploy against the system. “We have a bureaucracy that creates, effectively, more laws than Congress does,” he said.
“Here I am, I’m running for U.S. Senate, asking for your support. I’m here to talk with you.” Brown will be in Fallon again this weekend for the Farm Bureau BBQ and encourages any questions or comments, “I want to hear from you where I can be a positive impact and ultimately represent us.
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