Towns, Edolphus, 1934-

TOWNS, Edolphus, a Representative from New York; born in Chadbourn, Columbus County, N.C., July 21, 1934; graduated from West Side High School, Chadbourn, N.C., 1952; B.S., North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, Greensboro, N.C., 1956; M.S.W., Adelphi University, Garden City, N.Y., 1973; United States Army, 1956-1958; teacher, Fordham University, New York, N.Y.; deputy president, borough of Brooklyn, N.Y., 1976-1982; elected as Democrat to the Ninety-eighth and to the fourteen succeeding Congresses (January 3, 1983-January 3, 2013); chair, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (One Hundred Eleventh Congress); was not a candidate for reelection to the One Hundred Thirteenth Congress in 2012.

<p>Ed Towns emerged from North Carolina’s tobacco fields, mastered the sometimes turbulent politics of urban Brooklyn, and rose to chair the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform during a 30-year career in the U.S. House. Much of Towns’s low-key legislative style kept him focused on local concerns rather than cultivating a national presence which his senior status might have allowed. “I should jump out and push and get in front of the camera,” he once acknowledged, “but that’s just not my nature.”</p>

<p>Edolphus (Ed) Towns was born on July 21, 1934, in Chadbourn, North Carolina, to Versie and Dolphus Towns. His father was a tobacco sharecropper. Towns attended the local public schools before graduating in 1956 from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. Towns served in the U.S. Army for two years before moving to New York City where he taught at Medgar Evers College, Fordham University, and in the city’s public schools. From 1965 to 1975 Towns served as director of the Metropolitan Hospital and then assistant administrator at Beth Israel Hospital. Towns earned a master’s degree in social work in 1973 from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. Towns married the former Gwendolyn Forbes in 1960, and they have two children, Darryl and Deidra.</p>

<p>Active in the Brooklyn Democratic organization, Towns won election as Democratic Party state committeeman for New York’s 40th assembly district (Brooklyn) in 1972. He became the first African American appointed as deputy borough president for Brooklyn in 1976, a position that Towns used to connect with the various social and political organizations in the borough. In 1982 when Democratic Representative Frederick W. Richmond resigned after being indicted on felony charges, Towns moved quickly to fill the vacancy. Redistricting that year had created a new Democratic district composed primarily of African-American and Hispanic voters in Northern Brooklyn and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Towns garnered the support of Brooklyn Democratic leader Meade H. Esposito and Democratic reformer Al Vann. “I expect to be the consensus candidate,” Towns predicted. Two other candidates split the Hispanic vote, and Towns won the primary by a plurality. He easily won the general election.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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.</p>

<p>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, he ran for New York Assembly District 38, and was defeated in the Democratic primary by John Mullally, 75%-25%. In 1972, he ran in District 40 and was defeated in the Democratic primary by Edward Griffith, who won the primary with a plurality of 37%.</p>

<p>After redistricting, 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).</p>