Gary McDowell

Gary McDowell

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Michigan House of Representatives

---

Michigan Director of Agriculture and Rural Development

Successor: Kathy Angerer

---

Personal

Religion

Christian: Presbyterian

'

Gary McDowell was the Michigan Director of Agriculture and Rural Development. McDowell assumed office in 2019. McDowell left office on December 31, 2022.

Previously, he was a Democratic member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 107 from 2005 to January 1, 2011. He also ran for Congress in 2012.

Biography

McDowell was born on a farm in Rudyard, Michigan, and is the oldest of ten children. He graduated from Rudyard High School in 1970 and attended Lake Superior State College.

Career

McDowell's career hightlights are listed below.

• United Parcel Service (UPS), (1970-2003)
• McDowell Hay, Incorporated; Former Treasurer
• Former Emergency Medical Technician for Rudyard Township
• Volunteer Firefighter, Rudyard Township

Political career

Michigan Director of Agriculture and Rural Development (2019-2022)

McDowell has served in this position since his appointment in January 2019.

Michigan House of Representatives

McDowell represented District 107 from 2005 to 2011.

Committee Assignments, 2009-2010

• Appropriations
  • Community Health subcommittee (Chair)
  • Agriculture subcommittee (Vice Chair)
  • Higher Education.

Elections

2012

See also: Michigan's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012

McDowell was defeated by incumbent Dan Benishek. McDowell ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. House to represent Michigan's 1st District. After Derek Bailey withdrew from the race in late April, McDowell ran unopposed in the August 7 primary. He faced Republican incumbent Dan Benishek, Emily Salvette (L) and Ellis Boal (G) in the general election on November 6, 2012.

U.S. House, Michigan District 1 General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Gary McDowell	47.6%	165,179
	Republican	Dan Benishek Incumbent	48.1%	167,060
	Libertarian	Emily Salvette	3.1%	10,630
	Green	Ellis Boal	1.2%	4,168
Total Votes				347,037
Source: Michigan Secretary of State "Official Election Results, 2012 General Election"

Polls

Gary McDowell vs. Dan Benishek

Gary McDowell vs. Dan Benishek
Poll	Gary McDowell	Dan Benishek	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
(June 25, 2012)	40%	38%	22%	+/-4.9	402
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Media

McDowell released the campaign ad below on September 13, 2012. It targets his Republican opponent, Dan Benishek's position on Medicare.

Gary McDowell, "Send a Message"

Campaign issues

The following are several issues lighted on McDowell's campaign website.

• Eliminating Wasteful Spending and Making Government More Accountable

Excerpt: "A fiscal conservative, Gary voted to cut his own pay and end lifetime health care for lawmakers. He will push for a pay cut for Members of Congress and freeze their pay entirely until there is a responsibly balanced budget."

• Getting Michigan Back to Work

Excerpt: "Gary supports tax credits for small businesses that create new jobs here in Michigan and the U.S. Gary will provide real relief to small businesses by working to reduce unfair and unnecessary bureaucratic red tape that hinders job growth."

• Protecting Social Security & Medicare

Excerpt: "Gary opposes any effort toward Social Security privatization."

• Defending our Great Lakes

Excerpt: "Gary has always been a defender of our Great Lakes. In Lansing, he led the fight to end drilling on the Great Lakes and stop the bottling and selling of our waters for profit."

• Family Farms & Agriculture

Excerpt: "Farmers do not want to be paid by the government to farm. That’s why instead Gary supports protections for farmers in the case of catastrophic losses and a viable crop insurance program to provide an adequate safety net."

• Gun Rights

Excerpt: "Gary is a strong supporter and advocate for the 2nd Amendment rights of every individual."

• Healthcare

Excerpt: "Gary strongly supports Medicare and will work to keep the program strong for years to come. He will oppose cuts to beneficiaries."

• Education

Excerpt: "Gary believes the best education occurs when the local community provides it, not when it is mandated by a federal bureaucracy. Local families, communities and schools should be allowed to educate children without interference by the federal government."

• Securing our Borders

Excerpt: "Gary believes we need to confront this problem on two fronts. First and foremost, we need to secure the border. Secondly, the federal government has got to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants. It’s time we held these corporations accountable."

2010

McDowell was not eligible for re-election under Michigan's term limits.

2008

On November 4, 2008, Gary McDowell ran for District 107 of the Michigan House of Representatives, beating Alex Strobehn.

Gary McDowell raised $93,916 for his campaign.

Michigan House of Representatives, District 107
Candidates		Votes
Gary McDowell (D)		27,304
Alex Strobehn (R)		14,500

Campaign finance summary

Ballotpedia currently provides campaign finance data for all federal- and state-level candidates from 2020 and later. We are continuously working to expand our data to include prior elections. That information will be published here as we acquire it. If you would like to help us provide this data, please consider donating to Ballotpedia.

Voting record

Key votes of 2009-2010

• Click below to see how this representative voted.
• Super Speedway, Lawmakers voting on whether TO EXTEND A SPECIAL TAX PERK for a super speedway.
• Driver Responsibility Fees, Lawmakers voting on whether TO IMPOSE 'driver responsibility fees.'
• Crony Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether TO RESTRICT THE RIGHT of shareholders to sell their own stock.
• Right to Work, Lawmakers voting on an amendment SUPPORTING RIGHT-TO-WORK zones.
• Dept. of State Cost-Saving, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SLOW DOWN PROGRESS ON THE SECRETARY OF STATE'S COST-SAVING CONSOLIDATION PLAN.
• Golf Carts, Lawmakers voting on whether TO SUBSIDIZE the production of electric vehicle batteries.
• Home Court Disadvantage, Lawmakers voting on whether TO GIVE MORE TAXING POWER to local government in Kalamazoo so it can finance a taxpayer-subsidized sports arena.
• Fire Safe Cigarettes, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN the sale of cigarettes that are not "fire safe."
• Balancing Act, Lawmakers voting on a budget to CUT REVENUE SHARING PAYMENTS to local governments as a way to balance the state budget without raising taxes.
• Balancing Act 2, Lawmakers voting on a cut of less than 3 percent to K-12 school aid payments so as to balance the state budget without tax increases.
• A Good Tax Gone Bad?, Lawmakers voting on the Michigan Business Tax.
• It’s From the Children, Lawmakers voting on whether to RAID $90 MILLION from the Michigan Higher Education Student Loan Authority.
• Left Behind, Lawmakers voting on whether TO FINANCE "No Worker Left Behind" with a 59.9 percent increase in general fund spending in the 2009 DELEG budget.
• First Class Schools, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep Detroit Public Schools' "first class" status even though the district no longer meets the population standard.
• Politically Correct Capitalism, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE SUBSIDIES for plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
• Politically Correct Capitalism 2, Lawmakers voting on whether to GIVE SUBSIDIES for Michigan film production.
• Politically Correct Capitalism 3, Lawmakers voting on whether to INCREASE ELECTRIC CAR SUBSIDIES for a subsidiary of a Korean battery company.
• Secret Ballot, Lawmakers voting on whether to keep a SECRET BALLOT for union elections.
• Property Taxes Assaulted Again, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
• Sneak Attack, Lawmakers voting on whether to allow public schools to EXPAND THE USE OF SINKING FUND property tax spending.
• Grapes of Wrath, Lawmakers voting on whether TO BAN home shipment of beer and wine to Michigan consumers.
• Subsidize Manufacture of Electric Cars, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a refundable Michigan Business Tax credit for makers of plug-in traction battery packs used in electric cars.
• Authorize Special Tax Breaks for Ethanol Gas Stations, Lawmakers voting on whether to authorize a non-refundable Michigan Business Tax credit equal to 30 percent of the costs incurred by a gas station to convert existing pumps and tanks, or acquire new ones that deliver E85 ethanol or biodiesel fuel.

More voting record details

• List of all of Gary McDowell’s roll call votes, bills introduced, and floor amendments from MichiganVotes.org (use site’s “advanced search” to narrow by date range, issue category and/or keyword).
• List of Gary McDowell’s 48 missed roll-call votes

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
McDowell is married to his wife, Carrie, and has three children. They live in Rudyard, Michigan. He is a Presbyterian.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Gary + McDowell + Michigan + House"

Gary McDowell News Feed

See also

• Michigan's 1st Congressional District
• Michigan's 1st Congressional District elections, 2012
• United States House of Representatives

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	Michigan Director of Agriculture and Rural Development 2019-2022	Succeeded by Kathy Angerer
Preceded by -	Michigan House of Representatives	Succeeded by -