Bill Owens

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Gov. Bill Owens rated America's Best Governor in 2002 by National Review

William F. Owens (born October 22, 1950) is an American politician and a member of the Republican Party. He currently serves as the 40th Governor of Colorado.

Born in Fort Worth, Texas, Owens holds a Master's degree in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. He calls Winston Churchill his hero. He is an interested observer of Soviet affairs and writes and lectures often on Russia.

Owens served as a member of Colorado state house of representatives from 1982 to 1988 and Colorado state treasurer from 1995 to 1999. Since 1999, he has served as the 40th Governor of Colorado. In the gubernatorial election of 1998, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Gail Schoettler, in a very close race (they both received about 49% of the vote). He won the 2002 election by a much wider margin, defeating the Democratic candidate, Rollie Heath 63%-33%, the greatest majority in Colorado history.

In 2002 he was proclaimed by the National Review, a conservative political magazine, as the best governor in the U.S. [1] As governor, he led Colorado's largest tax relief package in history. Some of his fiscal accomplishments include $1 billion in cuts in rates of sales, personal income, and capital gains taxes, and the elimination of the marriage penalty. But since these cuts, Colorado has faced a downturn in the economy and struggled to maintain the same level of state services. Like Bush in Texas, he implemented "school reform" in Colorado by creating an education accountability system that included detailed, on-line school report cards, though analysis on those report cards have shown modest improvements they also show continued high rates of weak educational attainment.

Follwing the retirement announcement of US Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell in 2004, Governor Owens briefly considered running for the open seat, but ultimately decided against it. Leading up to the 2004 primary, Owens caused some controversy in the Republican Party by announcing support for Bob Schaffer's run to replace Campbell, but then endorsing Pete Coors when Coors announced his entry into the race. He separated from his long-time wife quietly but has not divorced.

Owens has also been mentioned as a potential nominee to the Cabinet of President George W. Bush in Bush's second term. Owens has said he expects to remain governor, but he also has not categorically ruled out the possibility of accepting a Cabinet nomination. Such a nomination may be less likely after the defeat of Coors in the general election. Owens has described his politics as mostly conservative and some libertarian influences. He is widely considered to be a possible candidate for President of the United States, or a possible nominee for Vice President in 2008 or 2012. Although he is well-positioned on the issues with the Republican conservative base and has the ability to work with and gain the acceptance of moderate Republicans and some independents, he is a fairly dry and soft speaker and not a high energy person-to-person campaigner.

Bill Owens

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