Harris B. McDowell

Harris B. McDowell (1965)

Harris Brown McDowell Jr. (born February 10, 1906 in Middletown , Delaware , †  November 1, 1988 ibid) was an American politician . Between 1955 and 1957 and from 1959 to 1967 he represented the state of Delaware in the US House of Representatives .

Career

Harris McDowell attended Middletown Public Schools, Wilmington High School , some YMCA schools, and Beacom Business College in Wilmington . He then worked in agriculture, insurance and the real estate market. Between 1937 and 1940 he was a member of the Delaware State Agriculture Committee.

Between 1940 and 1942, McDowell was a Democratic MP in the Delaware House of Representatives ; from 1942 to 1946 he was a member of the State Senate . Between 1941 and 1948 he was also director of the interstate cooperation between milk producers and the Delaware authority responsible for agriculture ( Farm Bureau ). He was then from 1949 to 1953 as Secretary of State executive officer of the state government of Delaware. Between 1944 and 1960 he was a delegate to all Democratic National Conventions .

In 1954 McDowell was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC with 55% of the vote against Lillian Martin , where he replaced Republican Herbert B. Warburton on January 3, 1955 . Since he was defeated by Harry G. Haskell in the 1956 elections, he was initially only able to complete one term in Congress until January 3, 1957 . Two years later he won back his mandate in a narrow election with about 700 votes ahead of Haskell. Because he was also victorious in the following three congressional elections, McDowell could remain between January 3, 1959 and January 3, 1967 four consecutive terms in Congress. McDowell supported President Lyndon B. Johnson and advocated the Vietnam War . That contributed to his electoral defeat in the 1966 congressional election, when he lost 44% to 56% to Republican William V. Roth .

In 1968 he faced Roth again and lost 41% against 59% of the vote, even more than two years earlier. Between 1967 and 1968, McDowell served as the Federal State Coordinator for Delaware. After that, he retired. He died in November 1988.

Web links

• Harris B. McDowell in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

• Harris B. McDowell in the database of Find a Grave (English)