Bill Lowery (US politician)
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| William David Lowery | |
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| In office 1981–1991 |
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| Preceded by | Bob Wilson |
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| Succeeded by | Jay Kim |
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| Born | May 2, 1947 San Diego, California, USA |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Divorced |
William David "Bill" Lowery (born May 2, 1947) was a Republican politician from California.
Lowery was born in southeastern San Diego, California, USA, where he grew up. He attended San Diego State University.
Lowery was married and divorced twice, first to Kathleen E. Brown on September 9, 1968 and second to Melinda Morrin.
Lowery started his political career as a San Diego city councilman from 1977 to 1980.
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[edit] Congress
In 1980, Lowery was elected to Congress from California's 41st congressional district, which included most of San Diego, after 28-year incumbent Bob Wilson retired. Lowery was reelected five times with little difficulty.
In the redistricting after the 1990 Census, Lowery was moved into the district of a fellow Republican, Duke Cunningham. At that time, the House banking scandal ("Rubbergate") had just broken: several members of Congress had written bad checks on the House bank. Lowery was one of the worst offenders, with over 300 bad checks. Lowery also had accepted yacht parties and trips from Don Dixon, who as part of the savings and loan scandals of the 1980s, plundered his Texas savings and loan and forced the U.S. government to bail it out for $1.3 billion. Lowery was also criticized for taking overseas junkets.[1] These issues virtually wiped out any advantage Lowery might have had due to seniority.
Cunningham repeated his 1990 campaign theme of "A Congressman We Can Be Proud Of," and built up a huge lead in the polls. Believing that he had no chance of staying in Congress, Lowery dropped out a few weeks before the Republican primary. Ironically, Cunningham would become the center of a multi-million dollar bribery scandal a decade later and be forced to resign after pleading guilty to bribery in 2005.
[edit] Lobbyist
Since leaving Congress, Lowery has worked as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.. He specializes in adding "earmarks" into appropriation bills for his clients. Lowery has been particularly effective in lobbying his friend Representative Jerry Lewis. Lowery, his firm, and clients have donated 37% of Lewis' $1.3 million PAC income in the past six years.[2]
Lowery owns two homes, a townhouse on Capitol Hill and a 14-acre (0.06 km²) waterfront property in King William County, Virginia.[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ a b Erica Werner, "Lawmaker-turned-lobbyist at center of 'earmarking' probe", Associated Press, July 15, 2006
- ^ "Close ties make Rep. Lewis, lobbyist Lowery a potent pair", San Diego Union-Tribune 2005-12-23 by Jerry Kammer
| Preceded by Bob Wilson |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 41st congressional district 1981–1993 |
Succeeded by Jay C. Kim |
