MACON, GA — Former state Sen. Robert Brown of Macon has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Brown served in the state Senate for about 20 years, rising to the rank of Democratic leader before resigning his seat to run unsuccessfully for mayor of Macon this year.

After he first won his seat in the state Legislature in a special election in 1991, Brown became the first black person to represent Bibb County in the Senate since Reconstruction. He previously served on the Bibb Board of Education.