He attended the College of William and Mary and earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

He earned a master of public administration degree from Western Michigan University.

He is the sixth generation of his family to live in southwest Michigan where he and his wife reside in the farmhouse built by his great-great grandparents.

In 1998, he was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives from the 59th district and re-elected to a second term in 2000.

In 2010, Brown sought the Republican nomination for secretary of state, losing narrowly to Ruth Johnson.