Larry R. Brown

Larry Ray Brown (February 9, 1943 – August 16, 2012) was an American politician. He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, and represented the 73rd district from 2005 to 2012. After redistricting, he lost the May 2012 Republican primary election for the 74th district and died of a heart attack while in office on August 16, 2012.

A controversy arose in 2010 after he referred to gays as "fruitloops" and "queers" in an email to fellow House members.

Larry R. Brown was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to William Edgar Brown and Ruth Holcomb Brown on February 9, 1943. He graduated from Kernersville High School and then served in the U.S. Navy from 1965 to 1968. In 1971, Brown received a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration from Central Wesleyan College, now known as Southern Wesleyan University.

Brown then worked for the United States Postal Service and later as a real estate broker. He was a town alderman of Kernersville, North Carolina, from 1977 to 1981 and from 1985 to 1992. He was the mayor pro tempore in 1985, and was the mayor from 1997 to January 2005, when he resigned to take his seat in the North Carolina General Assembly.

He was first elected in 2004, when he defeated Michael P. Decker in the Republican primary. Decker had earlier switched his affiliation from Republican to Democrat.