Cowan downplays distance

Austin businessman Al Cowan said Thursday that advanced technology would allow him to stay connected to constituents in the Permian Basin despite his remote residence on the eastern edge of the congressional district.

The 62-year-old Republican, who announced this week he is challenging Congressman Mike Conaway, R-Midland, for his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, addressed a handful of supporters Thursday morning at the Ector County Republican Party Headquarters in Odessa.

Cowan said he has residences in Sunrise Beach, which is in Llano County on the eastern edge of District 11, and Austin, where he has lived and worked for many years. He stressed his ties to the area — his wife, Penny, is from Midland and the two were married 38 years ago in the Tall City — and pledged to listen to the electorate and vote accordingly.

“I think that the job of Congressman is to understand and to listen to his constituents, and I think in this day and time technology facilitates that a great deal,” Cowan said pointing to recent innovations such as “tele-town hall meetings.”

“It’s not a situation where, in order to hear from you, I need to travel from Llano County to Midland,” he said.

Though Cowan sought Thursday to distinguish himself from Conaway, he also is competing against San Angelo businessman Chris Younts in the March 2 primary. The winner will duke it out in the Nov. 2 general election against Monahans teacher James Quillian, a conservative who filed as a Democrat because he has said he could do more in that party to promote the conservative cause.

On Thursday, Cowan laid out what he called the cornerstones of his candidacy, placing heavy emphasis on the need to introduce term limits in Congress. Specifically, he called for imposing a three-term, six-year limit on House representatives.

“We get politicians who get elected and then job one becomes getting re-elected,” he said, adding he has no desire to become a career politician. “We have people who’ve been in Congress, particularly in the Senate, for more than 50 years. We need new ideas, we need new approaches in Congress, and we need new people.”

A handful of supporters and curious spectators attended Cowan’s address. One local Republican who heard about the event on the radio and came out for a cup of coffee Thursday morning was James Hale, who said he was taking his first step to become more politically engaged.

“He definitely sounded Republican,” Hales said of Cowan’s address, acknowledging he knows little about Conaway, the incumbent. “I’d vote for that.”