BROWN
LaTosha

• 1. Bids for political office
• 1.1. State Board of Education
• 1.2. Alabama House of Representatives

LaTosha Brown is an American community organizer, political strategist, and consultant. She is the co-founder of the voting rights group Black Voters Matter, which has been noted for its work on the 2017 U.S. Senate special election in Alabama and its influence during the 2020–21 Georgia state elections. Brown was born in Selma, Alabama and attended Selma High School and Auburn University at Montgomery. After unsuccessful bids for the Alabama State Board of Education and the Alabama House of Representatives, Brown began working and founding a series of nonprofit organizations centered around disaster relief, Black voting rights, and funding grassroots community development initiatives. In 2016, Brown and fellow activist Cliff Albright founded Black Voters Matter, an organization whose work is credited with significant voter registration and get out the vote efforts in several elections, notably that of United States Senator Doug Jones of Alabama in 2017; the 2020–21 United States Senate election in Georgia; and the 2020–21 United States Senate special election in Georgia.

Bids for political office

State Board of Education

In 1998, Brown ran for the Democratic nomination for the Alabama State Board of Education's fifth district seat. Her opponent was fellow Democrat Willie J. Paul. After a week-long count of the ballots Paul was declared the winner by fewer than 200 votes.

After the results were certified, the Wilcox County sheriff admitted to storing 800 uncounted ballots in a safe. Since the ballots were discovered after the election was certified, Brown was told they could not be counted. Her only recourse was a lawsuit, which she was not financially able to pursue.

Alabama House of Representatives

In 2002, Brown ran for the Alabama House of Representatives District 67 seat against fellow Democrat Yusuf Salaam. On June 25, Salaam won the runoff election by 138 votes. Brown officially contested the election. In a June 27 press conference from the Dallas County Courthouse Annex, she and her advisors alleged several irregularities within the voting records, including crossover voting, missing voter lists, illegally opened election boxes, and votes from deceased individuals.