Jim Townsend (born 1965/1966) represented the 26th district in the Michigan House of Representatives from January 2011 until January 2017. He is a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. He is the director of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy in Detroit, Michigan.

Education

Townsend earned a B.A. in History from the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in 1988. He earned a dual MBA/MPP from the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1997. In 2016, he earned a JD from

Wayne State University Law School Wayne State University Law School (Wayne Law) is the law school of Wayne State University in Detroit. Wayne Law is located in Midtown, Detroit's Cultural Center. Founded in 1927, the law school offers juris doctor (J.D.), master of laws (LL.M.), ...

Career

Townsend was first elected to the state house in 2010. In explaining his reelection bid, Townsend stated, "I am running because the promise of a middle class life in Michigan is being broken for too many of our people. We need a state government that will stand up to special interests and invest in the public goods like education that are crucial to creating good-paying jobs for our people." In 2013, Townsend introduced legislation that called for universal

background checks A background check is a process a person or company uses to verify that an individual is who they claim to be, and this provides an opportunity to check and confirm the validity of someone's criminal record, education, employment history, and oth ...

for gun buyers. He has worked for

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

, and helped found the Michigan suburbs alliance. In November 2019, Townsend was appointed director of the Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy at

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Jim (Michigan politician) 1960s births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Date of birth missing (living people) People from Royal Oak, Michigan University of North Carolina alumni Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Ross School of Business alumni 21st-century American politicians