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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rich Cowan

A candidate for U.S. Representative in the 2012 Washington General Election

Party: Democrat

Age: 68

City: Spokane, WA

Occupation: CEO and founder, North by Northwest

RICH COWAN

Education: Graduated from Juanita High School in Kirkland, Wash. in 1974. Earned broadcast journalism degree from Washington State University in 1979. Earned human nutrition master’s degree from WSU in 1984.

Work experience: Co-founded North by Northwest Productions in 1990. Worked as the community affairs director for KHQ-TV from 1986-1990. Served as a firefighter and emergency medical technician at Washington State University while a college student. Served on Community Colleges of Spokane Vocational Advicsory Council in mid-1990s. Former Eagle Scout.

Political experience: Ran for Congress in 2012 against U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers.

Family: Divorced. Has two adult children.

Contact information

More about Rich Cowan

Race Results

Candidate Votes Pct
Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R) 177,481 62.05%
Rich Cowan (D) 108,548 37.95%

Details

Related Coverage

House race an uphill battle: Cowan faces McMorris Rodgers

In just about any profile of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the national media, the Spokane congresswoman is inevitably labeled “a rising star” of the Republican Party. Especially this year, it’s hard to argue with that label, and unless Democrat Rich Cowan can manage the difficult feat of defeating her in November, she’s expected to continue to climb.

Cowan vs. McMorris Rodgers, Priorities

U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Spokane, and businessman Rich Cowan, a Democrat, talk about their top priorities for a new term in Congress. The two are running for Congress in Eastern Washington’s 5th Congressional District.

Three-step plan to eradicate scourge of campaign malarkey

I have a three-point plan: Get shock collars. Strap them onto the candidates. Attempt, through vigorous zapping, to train them away from some of the emptiest forms of blather they are heaping upon us. The season of malarkey is in full flower, and it will only bloom more intensely between now and Election Day. It is a pageant of baloney, a peacock’s tail of every shimmering shade of the false, the not-quite-true, the overstated, the understated, the empty, the twisted – and the rotely repeated. Oh, the repeated. It is as though there is a bank of empty phrases handed out by lottery, and candidates are forbidden from saying anything original.

Gridlock in Congress a hot debate topic

Republican U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, in the final debate before the November election, defended her eight years in Congress and argued that she has worked for bipartisanship in Congress. “We need leadership. We need both parties, Republicans and Democrats, working together,” McMorris Rodgers said Friday morning at the debate at the Red Lion Hotel at the Park. “When you look at my record you’ll see one where I have reached across the aisle to get the job done.”

McMorris Rodgers, Cowan debate for final time

The final debate between U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Rich Cowan was held Friday morning by Greater Spokane, Inc., the region’s chamber of commerce.

McMorris Rodgers, Cowan share views during debate

The Democratic opponent of U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers in the November election used much of their first debate working to portray the incumbent Republican as an ingrained fixture in a bickering Congress. “The biggest thing I hear is, ‘Where is our representative?’ She’s not here. She’s in the other Washington, serving the other Washington,” said Democrat Rich Cowan, the founder of North by Northwest Productions in Spokane.

McMorris Rodgers, Cowan debate for first time

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Cowan targets McMorris Rodgers in ads

Democratic challenger Rich Cowan is attempting to take U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers to task for her work trying to elect or re-elect other Republicans to Congress. His latest ads, and a separate “where is Cathy” website, poke fun at the four-term congresswoman for visits across the country, from New York and Florida to California and Nevada, in support of other GOP candidates. He calls contributions she makes from the CMR Political Action Committee, her separate leadership PAC, efforts to “re-elect a broken Congress.”

Spin Control: Judge dismantles Seattle woman’s ‘birther’ claims

OLYMPIA – It’s Labor Day weekend, the traditional start of serious campaigning, so one can assume the silly season for politics is either over or nearly so. Before the clock ran out on the political dog days of summer, however, Washington was treated to the latest “birther” challenge to Barack Obama’s ability to run for president.