Towns, Edolphus, 1934-

Variant names

Dates:

Birth 1934-07-21

Gender:

Male

Nationality: Americans

Language: English

Biographical notes:

Edolphus "Ed" Towns, Jr. (born July 21, 1934) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2013. A Democrat from New York, Towns was Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee from 2009 to 2011. During his 30 years in Congress, Towns represented districts based in Brooklyn: first New York's 11th congressional district, from 1983 to 1993, and then the 10th district from 1993 to 2013. On April 16, 2012, Towns announced he would be retiring at the end of his 15th term.

Towns was born in Chadbourn, North Carolina, the son of Versie (née Brown) and Edolphus Towns. He earned his bachelor's degree from North Carolina A&T State University and a master's degree in social work from Adelphi University. Towns is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Towns worked as an administrator at Beth Israel Medical Center, a professor at New York's Medgar Evers College and Fordham University and a public school teacher, teaching orientation and mobility to blind students. He is also a veteran of the United States Army and an ordained Baptist minister. In 1970 and 1972, he mounted two unsuccessful runs for the New York State Assembly. After redistricting following the 1980 census, Towns ran for the open seat in the Brooklyn-based New York's 11th congressional district. Towns won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 48%, and won the general election with 84% of the vote. He never won a general election campaign with less than 85% of the vote. He has won the Democratic primary with at least 60% of the vote all but three times (1998, 2000, and 2006).