Bill Lowery (politician)

Full article adapted from Wikipedia revision 1371598309 by Wikipedia contributors. Text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Formatting has been adapted; article text and references are retained. Snapshot imported 2026-09-25.

<tbody> </tbody>

Bill Lowery
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 41st district
In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993
Preceded by	Bob Wilson
Succeeded by	Duke Cunningham (redistricted)
Personal details
Born	William David Lowery (1947-05-02) May 2, 1947 San Diego, California, U.S.
Party	Republican
Education	San Diego State University

William David Lowery (born May 2, 1947) is an American politician and lobbyist from California. A Republican, he served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 to 1993.

Prior to Election

Bill Lowery was born May 2, 1947, in San Diego, California. He attended San Diego State University. His father was a small businessman owning and operating a hardware store. His father died when Bill was nine years old, leaving Bill's mother to struggle to keep the family together. Bill was active in politics from the time he first attended college where he was involved in student politics on the conservative side, arranging peaceful demonstrations on behalf of free speech on campus for American corporations and the right for ROTC to recruit on campus, among other causes. He worked as National Youth Director for President Ford's campaign, and was a political operative for the California Republican Party.

City Council

Lowery was elected to the San Diego City Council in 1977 at the age of 30. As a close ally of then Mayor Pete Wilson, Lowery supported development of the San Diego Trolley, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Horton Plaza. He also was particularly supportive of efforts on behalf of Mission Bay Park. He was elected by his colleagues to the post of Deputy Mayor in 1980.

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, who started the campaign 27 points behind his opponent but finished 10 points ahead, proved to be very popular as congressman. He was reelected four times with little difficulty. In his last campaign in 1990 he was reelected over his Democratic opponent with only 49% of the vote.

Lowery focused his efforts in Congress on improving San Diego. He was a major opponent of off-shore oil drilling, a major supporter of the reclamation of waste water and the Otay Mesa border crossing.

Controversy

Although there was no finding of wrongdoing by any government agency of Lowery's activities, he received substantial bad press in connection with the House banking scandal, and yet again, from his friendship with Don Dixon, a major player in the Savings and Loan scandal.

In the redistricting after the 1990 census, Lowery was moved into the district of a fellow Republican, Duke Cunningham. Lowery was defeated in the primary, obtaining just 15.3 percent of the vote, and coming in third place. Cunningham won the primary and was elected, and ultimately became the center of a multimillion-dollar bribery scandal a decade later and was forced to resign after pleading guilty to bribery in 2005.

Lobbyist

Main article: Jerry Lewis - Lowery lobbying firm controversy

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 had been particularly effective in lobbying his friend, ex-Representative Jerry Lewis. Lowery, his firm, and clients have donated 37% of Lewis' $1.3 million PAC income for the period 1999–2005.

Lowery owns two homes, a townhouse on Capitol Hill, and a 14-acre (0.06 km²) waterfront property in King William County, Virginia.

Electoral history

<tbody> </tbody>

1980 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery	123,187	52.7
	Democratic	Bob Wilson	101,101	43.2
	Libertarian	Joseph D. Alldredge	9,630	4.1
Total votes			233,918	100.0
	Republican hold

<tbody> </tbody>

1982 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery (Incumbent)	140,130	68.9
	Democratic	Tony Brandenburg	58,677	28.8
	Libertarian	Everett Hale	4,654	2.3
Total votes			203,461	100.0
	Republican hold

<tbody> </tbody>

1984 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery (Incumbent)	161,068	63.5
	Democratic	Bob Simmons	85,475	33.7
	Libertarian	Sara Baase	7,303	2.8
Total votes			253,846	100.0
	Republican hold

<tbody> </tbody>

1986 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery (Incumbent)	133,566	67.8
	Democratic	Daniel F. "Dan" Kripke	59,816	30.4
	Libertarian	Richard "Dick" Rider	3,541	1.8
Total votes			196,923	100.0
	Republican hold

<tbody> </tbody>

1988 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery (Incumbent)	187,380	64.8
	Democratic	Daniel F. "Dan" Kripke	88,192	31.5
	Libertarian	Richard "Dick" Rider	5,336	1.9
	Peace and Freedom	C. T. Weber	4,853	1.8
Total votes			285,761	100.0
	Republican hold

<tbody> </tbody>

1990 United States House of Representatives elections in California

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Bill Lowery (Incumbent)	105,723	49.2
	Democratic	Daniel F. "Dan" Kripke	93,586	43.6
	Peace and Freedom	Karen S.R. Works	15,428	7.2
Total votes			214,737	100.0
	Republican hold

External links

• United States Congress. "Bill Lowery (id: L000479)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

<tbody> </tbody>