You might not know his name but you might have read it before if you voted in Brooklyn, NY. Longtime Brooklyn congressman Edolphus Towns is about to retire at age 77 after 15 terms serving in the United States Congress.

This leaves the race down to two men who had been previously critical of Mr. Towns but backed off immediately upon hearing of the congressman’s intent to retire at the end of his term. Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries said that he “commended Mr. Towns on 30 years of service” and that he wished him luck in the new chapter of his personal life.

It had been speculated that Mr. Towns might retire when he was slow to hire a campaign team for his 16th term re-election bout. It was also around this time that murmurs of his ineffectiveness began circulating. Because of his seniority, people from his district were hoping that he would do a bit more in the House of Representatives. However, now that he has decided to retire, the people of Brooklyn have nothing but good thoughts and words for Ed Towns. That’s not surprising as Mr. Towns had not been seriously challenged in a congressional race since the year 2000.