Janet Cowell

Biography

Janet Cowell is a state senator and the Democratic nominee for state treasurer.

Early Life and Education 

The daughter of a Methodist minister and a public school teacher, Cowell grew up in Kentucky and Tennessee.

She graduated from John Overton High School in Nashville, Tenn., in 1986.

She then attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a bachelor of arts in Asian history in 1990.

She earned a master of business administration from The Wharton School of Business and a master of arts in international studies from the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania in 1995.

Professional Career 

She moved to Raleigh in 1997, working as a business consultant.

She worked as an independent consultant for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals among other clients and taught at Peace College and N.C. State University. 

From 2003 to 2005, she worked for the Sustainable Jobs Fund, a Durham-based venture capital firm that invests in North Carolina businesses that create green jobs.

Since August of 2005, she worked as an associate consultant with Fountain Works, a Raleigh firm that does strategic planning. Among other things, she handled a Defense Department contract for the health care system in Fort Bragg and wokred with local government to the performance of its programs.

She went on leave to campaign in September of 2007. 

Political Career 

Starting in 2001, she served two terms on the Raleigh City Council, voting to open Fayetteville Street and build a new convention center.

In 2004, she was elected to the state Senate.

In office, she worked on bills to promote energy efficiency in state buildings and pursue data integration in state government.

Treasurer Campaign 

In 2007, she announced she would run for the Democratic nomination for state treasurer.

She defeated Raleigh attorney Michael Weisel and Buncombe County Commissioner David Young in the Democratic primary, winning with 46 percent of the vote.

Her campaign was endorsed by former state Auditor Ralph Campbell, the Conservation Council of North Carolina, the state chapter of the AFL-CIO, the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers, EMILY's List, NARAL North Carolina, Planned Parenthood of Central North Carolina, and the N.C. Police Benevolent Association.

She now faces state Rep. Bill Daughtridge in the November election. 

Occupation

Contact Info

Email: janetcowell@hotmail.com

Education

Military

Issues

How will you measure success in your first year in office?

"The return on the pension fund is probably the chief metric. I think the other is the state's bond rating, the diversity of the folks doing business with the treasurer's office and the quality of their work. Hopefully we'll have a whole portfolio of metrics on the various issues that we'll formulate and publish on the Web site so that everybody will have a better sense of how things are going." 

Tell us about something you did for someone else.

"A lot of what we get in the (Senate) office are folks who are having a hard time getting health insurance. That's one of the most frequent requests. (My legislative assistant) Cindy Garrison in my office has helped people navigate the system and we've had several times when people were able to get the health care that they needed."

What is the biggest challenge facing North Carolina? Your county? Your district?

"There are multiple issues, but hte most fundamental is k-12 education, making sure that system is preparing our children for a good future so that they can get good jobs and making sure that we're adequatly educating every child in the state as we have an incraesingly diverse demographic with African-Americans, Hispanics, just the huge diversity of hte next generation." 

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