Bryan Townsend (American politician)

Bryan Townsend
Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate
Assumed office
November 4, 2020
Preceded byNicole Poore
Member of the Delaware Senate
from the 11th district
Assumed office
January 8, 2013
Preceded byAnthony DeLuca
Personal details
Born (1981-05-19) May 19, 1981 (age 42)
Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Delaware (BA, BS)
University of Cambridge (MPhil)
Yale University (JD)

Bryan Jeffrey Schurgard Townsend (born May 19, 1981) is an American politician who represents District 11 in the Delaware Senate.[1] Townsend was elected Senate Majority Leader in 2020. He graduated from the University of Delaware in 2003.

As a political newcomer, Townsend defeated Anthony J. DeLuca—who was then President pro tempore of the Delaware Senate—in the 2012 Democratic primary by 57 percent to 42 percent.[2][3] Townsend went on to defeat Republican Evan Queitsch in the general election, winning 78 percent of the vote.[4][5]

Townsend was reelected in 2014. He defeated primary challenger David L. Tackett with 78 percent of the vote,[6] and was unopposed in the general election.[7]

In September 2015, in the wake of Representative John Carney's announcement that he would run for governor of the state, Townsend announced his candidacy for Delaware's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.[8] On September 13, 2016, his candidacy ended when he placed second in a six-way Democratic primary, behind former state Secretary of Labor Lisa Blunt Rochester (25% to 44%).[9][10]

Townsend supports gun control and has supported a bill in 2018 to ban assault weapons.[11]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Official web site of First State Legislature". www.legis.delaware.gov. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  2. ^ "Incumbents DeLuca and Booth fall in State Senate primary races, Bennett wins primary for husband's House seat | WDDE 91.1 FM | Delaware's NPR News station". Wdde.org. September 12, 2012. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "Primary Election Results". Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  4. ^ "2012 Election Results". Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  5. ^ "Townsend elected to state Senate - The Review - The independent student newspaper of the University of Delaware since 1882". Udreview.com. November 12, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
  6. ^ "2014 Primary Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  7. ^ "State of Delaware General Election Official Results". Dover, Delaware: Delaware Commissioner of Elections. November 7, 2014. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  8. ^ "State Sen. Bryan Townsend announces congressional bid". Delaware News Journal. September 17, 2015. Retrieved September 17, 2015.
  9. ^ "2016 Primary Election Results". Delaware Department of Elections. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  10. ^ "Blunt Rochester wins Democratic primary for Congress". Delaware News Journal. September 13, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
  11. ^ "Assault style weapons ban unable to get out of committee". Retrieved June 6, 2018.

External links[edit]

Delaware Senate
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate
2020–present
Incumbent