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→Background
==Background==
==Background==
Townsend was a son of William Lloyd Townsend, Jr., and the former Dorothy "Dot" Kelly (1932-2020), later Dorothy Holladay, the wife for thirty-eight years of Robert B. Holladay. Dorothy was a teacher prior to 1979 at the former Coushatta High School in Coushatta in Red River Parish. She then became a recruiter for [[Northwestern State University]] and owned The Village Ladies & Childrens Shop in Natchitoches. His great-great-grandfather was the first [[judge]] in Red River Parish north of Natchitoches. His grandparents were John K. and Imogene M. Kelly of Coushatta.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=dorothy-kelly-townsend-holladay-dot&pid=196288321&fhid=10224|title=Dorothy Holladay obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 1, 2020|accessdate=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
Townsend was a son of William Lloyd Townsend, Jr., and the former Dorothy "Dot" Kelly (1932-2020), later Dorothy Holladay, the wife for thirty-eight years of Robert B. Holladay. Dorothy was a teacher prior to 1979 at the former Coushatta High School in Coushatta in Red River Parish. She then became a recruiter for [[Northwestern State University]] and owned The Village Ladies & Childrens Shop in Natchitoches. His great-great-grandfather was the first [[judge]] in Red River Parish. His grandparents were John Kenneth Kelly (1909-1998) and the former Imogene Mangham (1912-2000). Kelly of Coushatta.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=dorothy-kelly-townsend-holladay-dot&pid=196288321&fhid=10224|title=Dorothy Holladay obituary|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|date=June 1, 2020|accessdate=June 3, 2020}}</ref>
Townsend is a nephew and law partner of former state Senator [[Don Kelly]] in the firm Kelly, Townsend & Thomas.<ref name=martindale>{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Thomas-Taylor-Townsend/599096-lawyer.htm|title=Thomas Taylor Townsend: Law Profile|publisher=martindale.com|accessdate=November 25, 2019}}</ref>
Townsend is a nephew and law partner of American Quarter Horse breeder and former state Senator [[Don Kelly]] in the firm Kelly, Townsend & Thomas.<ref name=martindale>{{cite web|url=http://www.martindale.com/Thomas-Taylor-Townsend/599096-lawyer.htm|title=Thomas Taylor Townsend: Law Profile|publisher=martindale.com|accessdate=November 25, 2019}}</ref>
Townsend received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and a [[Juris Doctor]]ate from historically black Southern University Law School in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. Admitted to the bar in 1990, Townsend specializes in consumer class actions, criminal defense, civil suits, and personal injury cases.<ref name=martindale/>
Townsend received a Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and a [[Juris Doctor]]ate from historically black Southern University Law School in the capital city of [[Baton Rouge]]. Admitted to the bar in 1990, Townsend specializes in consumer class actions, criminal defense, civil suits, and personal injury cases.<ref name=martindale/>
==Political life==
==Political life==
In the 1999 nonpartisan blanket primary, Townsend narrowly upset veteran Democratic state Representative Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016), a Natchitoches businessman and member of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political dynasty who had served consecutively in the House since 1968. Townsend prevailed, 7,643 votes (51 percent) to Long's 7,447 votes (49 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 23, 1999.</ref> The defeat was stunning in that Long had been unopposed in 1995. Long was apparently the last member of his political family to have held public office in Louisiana until 2008, when Long's younger brother, Gerald Long of Natchitoches, won a state senate seat by defeating Taylor Townsend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2020 (See Natchitoches Parish: Gerald Long)|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=November 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Considered an authority on secondary and higher education planning and funding, Jimmy Long was earlier named one of the 100 most significant people in the 20th century history in North Louisiana by ''The Shreveport Times'' [[newspaper]].
In the 1999 nonpartisan blanket primary, Townsend narrowly upset veteran Democratic state Representative Jimmy Dale Long, Sr. (1931-2016), a Natchitoches businessman and member of the [[Huey Long|Long]] political dynasty who had served consecutively in the House since 1968. Townsend prevailed, 7,643 votes (51 percent) to Long's 7,447 votes (49 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 23, 1999.</ref> The defeat was stunning in that Long had been unopposed in 1995. Long was apparently the last member of his political family to have held public office in Louisiana until 2008, when Long's younger brother, Gerald Long of Natchitoches, won a state senate seat by defeating Taylor Townsend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Membership in the Louisiana Senate, 1880-2020 (See Natchitoches Parish: Gerald Long)|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=November 25, 2019}}</ref><ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 20, 2007.</ref> Considered an authority on secondary and higher education planning and funding, Jimmy Long was earlier named one of the 100 most significant people in the 20th century history in North Louisiana by ''The Shreveport Times'' [[newspaper]].