Major Owens

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Major Owens

United States Representative from New York's 11th district
In office 1983 - (term ends 2007)
Preceded by	Ed Towns
Succeeded by	Incumbent₁

Born	June 28, 1936 Collierville, Tennessee
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Maria Cuprill
Religion	Baptist
₁Yvette Clarke will replace the retiring Owens in the House on January 3, 2007.

Major Robert Odell Owens (born June 28, 1936) is a New York politician, currently representing the state's 11th Congressional district (map), in the United States House of Representatives. He will retire at the end of his current term in January 2007 and will be succeeded by Yvette Clarke.

Owens was born in Collierville, Tennessee. He has a bachelor's degree from Morehouse College and a master of science degree from Atlanta University. Owens was a librarian before entering politics. He was elected to the New York state Senate in 1974 as a Democrat.

In 1982, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, replacing the retiring Shirley Chisholm. One of his achievements in the House was the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Owens represents a very diverse district located entirely within Brooklyn, New York. His district includes low income areas of Brownsville, a large Hasidic area of Crown Heights, the heavily Caribbean areas of Flatbush and East Flatbush, and the upscale neighborhood of Park Slope.

Although Owens won the Democratic primary with just 45% of the vote, he was re-elected in 2004 with 94% of the vote. He will retire from the House at the end of his term in January 2007. Due to the extreme Democratic lean of his district, there was little surprise that he will be replaced by another Democrat in the 2006 election. Yvette Clarke, who ran against him in the 2004 primary and won the 2006 primary nomination to succeed him, was elected with 89 % of the votes.

Owens received an "A" on the Drum Major Institute's 2005 Congressional Scorecard on middle-class issues.

The character Mark Richardson in the popular television program The West Wing is believed to be based on Owens. Richardson plays an African-American Congressman from Brooklyn who looks a lot like Owens.

Owens is nicknamed the "Rappin' Rep" since he writes raps. His rap songs are often political and liberal in nature. He posts them on his official Congressional website. [1]

Owens is also the father of actor Geoffrey Owens, best known for playing the role of Elvin on The Cosby Show.

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Preceded by Shirley Chisholm	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 12th congressional district 1983–1993	Succeeded by Nydia Velazquez
Preceded by Edolphus Towns	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New York's 11th congressional district 1993–	Succeeded by Incumbent