Cowan promises term limits

In campaigning for the District 11 seat of the U.S. House of Representatives, Austin businessman Al Cowan has routinely stressed the fact he is not a career politician, suggesting his absence from politics means he will be less beholden to special interests. If elected, Cowan said he would fight to ensure politicians can’t make a career out of holding office.

He wants to start by imposing a three-term, six-year limit on House representatives.

"We get politicians who get elected and then job one becomes getting re-elected," Cowan said during a recent visit to Odessa. "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."

Cowan is challenging Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, who is running for a fourth term. If elected, Cowan, 62, has pledged to serve three terms at the most before retiring from politics. He said his candidacy is about giving people a choice, saying Conaway has become a Washington insider and "part of the problem."

"If you think the situation is good, you should vote to send Conaway back to Washington," Cowan said.

In the March 2 primary, Cowan faces additional opposition from San Angelo resident Chris Younts, another conservative who shares many of Cowan’s concerns about the direction of the country. Like Younts, Cowan has lambasted Conaway for voting in favor of the federal TARP bailout in October 2008.

The winner of the primary will face off in November against James Quillian, a Monahans conservative who says he can be more effective running on the Democratic side of the ticket. Independents Buzzy Terrell of Andrews and Wendell "Clayton" Tindle of Odessa have also filed with the secretary of state to be on the November ballot.

The position has a term of two years and pays an annual salary of $174,000.

In addition to term limits, Cowan has focused his campaign on fiscal responsibility, saying excessive spending in Washington had persuaded him "to get up off his chair."

"Massive bailouts have driven the country to the brink of bankruptcy," Cowan said, adding we "simply cannot afford" the health care bill going through Congress.

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. Though some have questioned whether he can relate to residents in the Permian Basin, Cowan has stressed his ties to the area, pointing out that his wife, Penny, is from Midland and the two were married 38 years ago in the Tall City.