11 Facts About Leanna Brown

Leanna Brown was an American politician who served in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature, where she represented New Jersey's 26th legislative district, including parts of Morris and Passaic Counties.

Leanna Brown was the first Republican woman elected to the New Jersey Senate.

Leanna Brown attended the Northfield School for Girls in Gill, Massachusetts and was graduated in 1952.

Leanna Brown married a Yale graduate, Stanley Brown, and they settled in Chatham, New Jersey.

Leanna Brown later became active in local politics in Chatham, serving on the borough council from 1969 to 1972.

Leanna Brown was named freeholder director in 1976 and president of the New Jersey Association of Counties in 1978.

In 1980, Leanna Brown won a special election to an unexpired term in the New Jersey General Assembly.

Leanna Brown won the primary in what the Philadelphia Daily News described as a "stunning upset" and she was elected to the state senate, becoming the first woman from the Republican Party to serve in the upper house of the state legislature.

Leanna Brown ultimately decided against running in the Republican primary, which was won by Jim Courter.

In 1993, Brown resigned from the state senate when she was appointed to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, initially, to serve out the unexpired term of Charles J Irwin.

Leanna Brown was a scientist, working at Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill.