Brooklyn Rep. Edolphus Towns, a mainstay in the House for 30 years, said he will not seek another term on Monday.
Towns, 77, said he came to his decision “after months of long family discussions” and will not seek re-election, according to a statement from his office.
“I am proud to have brought millions of dollars into my district for much needed improvements, fought corruption on Wall Street as chair of the Congressional Oversight Committee,” his statement reads.
The longtime Congressman served Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, Boreum Hill, Canarsie, Clinton Hill, East New York, Fort Greene, Midwood, Mill Basin, and portions of Williamsburg and Cypress Hills.
If he stayed in, Towns would have had to fight in a three-way Democratic primary.
“I believe firmly that we would have won a 16th term had we decided to run,” he added.
The White House released a statement shortly after Towns’s announcement, which said Towns “fought tirelessly to improve the public health care system, strengthen consumer protections, and improve the public education system.”
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