Bryan Townsend | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Majority Leader of the Delaware Senate | |
| Assumed office November 4, 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Nicole Poore |
| Member of the Delaware Senate from the 11th district | |
| Assumed office January 8,2013 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony DeLuca |
| Personal details | |
| Born | May 19,1981 Wilmington,Delaware,U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University 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. [2] 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. [3] [4] Townsend went on to defeat Republican Evan Queitsch in the general election,winning 78 percent of the vote. [5] [6]
Townsend was reelected in 2014. He defeated primary challenger David L. Tackett with 78 percent of the vote, [7] [8] and was unopposed in the general election. [9]
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. [10] 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%). [11] [12]
Townsend supports banning assault weapons and argued in favor of a 2018 bill that was not released from committee. [13] In 2024,he co-sponsored a bill legalizing medical aid in dying in Delaware. [14] [15]
