Debra Bowen
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Bowen was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois. She received her bachelor's degree in 1976 from Michigan State University, and her Juris Doctor in 1979 from the University of Virginia School of Law. In 1984 she started her own California law firm. Bowen was elected to the California State Assembly, representing the 53rd Assembly District from 1992-1998.
Bowen was first elected to the California State Senate, representing the 28th State Senate District in 1998. Her district included all or portions of the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Torrance, Venice, and Wilmington. Bowen chaired the California Senate's Committee on Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments. She also sat on the Energy, Utilities & Communications and Rules committees. Due to term limits, her service in the Senate ended in December 2006.
Bowen is known for her pioneering work using the Internet to open government to computer users worldwide. In 1993, her first year in elected office, she successfully passed AB 1624, landmark legislation putting all of California's bill information on the internet. In the years since, she has worked to protect privacy in the electronic age and to strengthen the auditing of electronic voting equipment to ensure the accuracy of the vote. Her emphasis on fair elections has made her popular with the progressive wing of the Democratic party.
On June 6th, 2006, Bowen faced Deborah V. Ortiz, another California state senator, in the Democratic primary to run against Bruce McPherson, who ran unopposed in his primary, for the position of California Secretary of State. Bowen easily defeated Ortiz in the primary by nearly a 1 to 5 margin. Her general election victory over her Republican Candidate five months later was narrower, only three percentage points.
Electoral history
- 2006 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary [1]
- Debra Bowen (D), 60.9%
- Deborah V. Ortiz (D), 39.1%
- 2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election [2]
- Debra Bowen (D), 48.1%
- Bruce McPherson (R), 45%
- Forrest Hill (Green), 2.2%
Contact Information
California Secretary of State
1500 11th Street
Sacramento, California 95814
(916) 653-6814
External links
- Official State of California biography
- Official campaign website
- AB 1624 Info on CA Legislation site
References
Portions of this article have been adapted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 5/30/07
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