Gary J. McDowell (born April 21, 1952) is a U.S. politician from the state of

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He was elected to three, two-year terms in the Michigan House of Representatives and served from January 1, 2005, until January 1, 2011. In 2010 and 2012, he was the Democratic nominee for against

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Dan Benishek Daniel Joseph Benishek (April 20, 1952 – October 15, 2021) was an American physician and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017. He was a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education Benishek was b ...

. Prior to serving in the Michigan House of Representatives, McDowell was a member of the Chippewa County

Board of Commissioners A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

for 22 years. He also served on the Chippewa County Economic Development Corporation Board of Directors from 1987 until 2004.

Early life, education, and early career

McDowell was born and raised on a farm in Rudyard, Michigan. He is the oldest of ten children. His father was a John Deere salesman and a hay broker. His mother was a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American and Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. He graduated from Rudyard High School in 1970 and attended

Lake Superior State University Lake Superior State University (colloquially Lake State, Lake Superior State, Soo Tech, and LSSU) is a public college in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. It is enrolls approximately 2,000 students. Due to its proximity to the Canadian border, and th ...

. In addition to being a farmer, he was also a

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delivery driver for 23 years. He was a

volunteer firefighter A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...

and

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for 18 years.

Michigan House of Representatives

Elections

In 2002, he ran for Michigan's 107th House District, challenging incumbent Republican Scott Shackleton. He lost 69 percent to 31 percent. In 2004, Shackleton was term-limited from the

Legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

and McDowell decided to run again. He defeated Walter North, a former member of the state Senate, 54 percent to 46 percent. In 2006, he won re-election to a second term by defeating Republican Jay Duggan 59 percent to 41 percent. In 2008, he won re-election to a third and final term defeating Republican Alex Strobehn 65 percent to 35 percent.

Tenure

McDowell introduced 98 bills in six years in the Legislature. He has missed a total of 96 votes.

Committee assignments

;2009 *House Committee on Appropriations **Community Health subcommittee (Chairman) **Agriculture subcommittee (Vice Chairman) **Higher Education subcommittee

Congressional elections

2010

McDowell faced Benishek, independent Glenn Wilson, Libertarian nominee Keith Shelton,

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nominee Ellis Boal, and

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nominee Patrick Lambert in the general election. Democratic incumbent

Bart Stupak Bartholomew Thomas Stupak (; born February 29, 1952) is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Democratic Party, Stupak served as the U.S. representative from from 1993 to 2011. Stupak chose not to seek re-election in 2010. He dep ...

had announced his retirement, leaving this an open seat.

2012

On September 15, 2011, McDowell announced his intent to run against Benishek in the 2012 election. He has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO and the

Blue Dog Coalition The Blue Dog Coalition (commonly known as the Blue Dogs or Blue Dog Democrats) is a caucus in the United States House of Representatives comprising centrist members from the Democratic Party. The caucus was founded as a group of conservative De ...

. McDowell lost his bid to defeat Benishek for a second straight election, losing to the freshman incumbent by less than 2,000 votes of over 347,000 that were cast. McDowell considered challenging Benishek for a third time in the 2014 elections, but ultimately declined.

2019

Currently, Gary is the Head of The Department of Agricultural & Rural development.

Personal life

McDowell lives in Rudyard with his wife Carrie. They have three daughters, Alivia, Emily and Rochelle, and two grandsons, Garrett and Bruin. He is a member of the Rudyard First Presbyterian Church.

References

External links

State Representative Gary McDowell
at Michigan House Democrats
Gary McDowell for Congress
''official campaign site'' *
Campaign contributions
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:McDowell, Gary 1952 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives Lake Superior State University alumni People from Chippewa County, Michigan 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians