Early Life

Andy Brown grew up in a working family in Austin, Texas where he learned the importance of taking care of each other and solving problems. Andy’s parents were both public employees. His mom worked for health and human services, and his dad was a professor. They inspired Andy’s lifelong commitment to public service, social justice, and helping others.

Andy experienced first-hand how investments in public education and public service can make a difference in our community and in our daily lives. After graduating high school, he attended Colorado College and the University of Texas School of Law.

Helping Others

After law school, Andy wanted to work in public service, so he clerked for a federal judge in McAllen, Texas. This commitment to working with people for justice continues to guide him to this day. Later, he went on to serve communities in Honduras, Chile, and Argentina and where he learned Spanish.

When Andy arrived back home, he got to work as a community organizer. He helped register people to vote, went door-to-door to talk with neighbors, and coordinated local phone banks. As he spoke with people about the importance of voting, he listened to their stories and learned about their struggles. He grew tired of seeing the same problems hurt people across our community, so he committed himself to making our state a better place for everyone.

Growing Community

In 2006, Andy met Sara, a nurse practitioner, while they were neighbors. They married and later started their own family. Andy and Sara moved back to the neighborhood Andy grew up in. Andy grew his law practice and started his own law firm.

Later Andy ran for Democratic county chair where he focused on growing a people-powered grassroots network to register voters and building community power in majority-minority precincts. Then, he helped establish the Sobering Center Austin which focuses on providing a safe place for people to recover from addiction, instead of jail or the emergency room.

His experiences in Democratic politics and non-profits helped sharpen his focus on how we can make our community safer by investing in our neighborhoods, listening to the people who live there, and building our political power. Because he knows the strength of our movement isn’t about any single individual. It’s about all of us working together and empowering our community to change our county and our country.

Fighting with us

When our government wasn’t doing enough to slow the spread of COVID-19, provide working families and small businesses with economic relief, or reform our criminal justice system, Andy decided to run to be our county judge. He promised to fundamentally change the priorities of our county by focusing on the challenges that reflect our shared values and matter most to working families, communities of color, and those directly impacted.

Andy stepped into office in the midst of the worst public health crisis in a century. One that continues to claim the lives of too many. He leads with the belief that we can make Travis County a more safe, just, and equitable place to live for everyone by investing in people and evidence-based policies that will keep all of our neighbors more safe.

Andy has worked tirelessly to improve access to health care programs across Travis County. He has partnered with neighboring counties to increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines for our region. He has strengthened relationships with community partners to help ensure people across Travis County have quality health care equity.

When the winter storms struck, Andy helped bring gas, water, and food to neighborhoods hardest hit by the storm. He fought for investments in our emergency response system, including additional staff to help with wildfire prevention.

Andy has championed safe, stable, and affordable housing. He has implemented some of the most robust eviction protections in the state during the pandemic and passed policies that will help thousands end the cycle of homelessness, and provide new opportunities to live and thrive in Travis County.

Finally, Andy believes our justice system can become more fair and safe when we focus on crime prevention and invest in people and services rather than on buildings that lock people up. To learn more about Andy’s vision for Travis County, click here.

This important work must continue because too many still face barriers to health care, affordable housing, and justice.