39 Facts About Mike Dow

Michael Craig Dow was born on 1947 and is an American politician who served as the 106th mayor of Mobile, Alabama from 1989 to 2005.

Mike Dow is widely credited with leading the redevelopment of downtown Mobile.

Mike Dow was mentioned as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2010, but declined to run.

Mike Dow was born in South Carolina and was raised as a foster child.

Mike Dow's father left his family when he was ten and his mother suffered from mental illness.

Mike Dow joined the US Army, serving as a paratrooper in his first tour of duty and as a door gunner for subsequent tours in Vietnam.

Mike Dow survived several helicopter crashes but, in his fourth flight, his pilot and best friend, Johnny Legg, was killed.

Mike Dow was following his friend in another helicopter at the time of the incident.

Mike Dow still keeps a rubbing of Mr Legg's name from the Vietnam memorial in his office.

In 1979, Mike Dow co-founded QMS with his brother-in-law, Jim Busby.

Mike Dow took on a variety of roles, serving as Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Accounting for the company.

Mike Dow is credited with creating the company's European distribution network.

Mike Dow ran as a candidate in 1989 for city council from District 6.

Mike Dow ran as a 'statesman' candidate, based on his having served terms on the city commission in the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

Mike Dow intended to run for City Council from District 6 in the southwestern portion of the city.

Mike Dow promoted himself as a new style candidate, reaching out to both black and white voters.

Mike Dow's campaign included a coalition of African-American ministers and he frequently attended mass at African-American churches throughout the city.

Mike Dow won the election by a very convincing margin and his election suggested a shift in leadership in Mobile.

Mike Dow's victory was based on his support among middle-class white voters and African Americans.

Mike Dow proposed what he called "The String of Pearls", a series of projects meant to help spur the redevelopment of downtown.

Mike Dow moved forward with both the strategies outlined in the 15-year plan of Outlaw, and the convention center.

Mike Dow opposed the attention Dow gave to capital projects downtown, because of the increased debt load from borrowing it placed on the community with no thought to paying back the debt or obtaining funds to support maintenance of the projects.

At various times, Mike Dow put forth proposals to annex parts of West Mobile and Tillman's Corner, but these failed.

Mike Dow was highly popular in the city, but not so in the suburbs.

Mike Dow cruised to re-election in 1997, and began to be mentioned as a gubernatorial candidate.

Mike Dow began actively courting Thyssen-Krupp, which was surveying sites for a steel mill, and Boeing, which was investigation sites for manufacturing their Dreamliner plane.

Mike Dow's popularity began to rise as people saw the results of investment in downtown Mobile.

In early 2005, Mike Dow called a morning news conference in which he announced that he was not going to run for a fifth term.

Mike Dow stayed out of the campaign during the non-partisan first round primary.

Mike Dow refused to endorse James in the 1994 general election, but he narrowly prevailed.

Jones did not win over as many black voters as Mike Dow had won, but he traded it off with gains in white voters from Mike Dow's endorsement.

Mike Dow formally left office the first week of October 2005.

Mike Dow was at the press conference that Bush held at Mobile Regional Airport in which the lines "heck of a job, Brownie" were uttered.

Mike Dow can be recognized in the footage through his short stature, gray hair and mustache.

Mike Dow became involved with the effort to create the Alabama Motorsports Park on a site located north of Mobile.

Mike Dow helped gain a site in Mobile County over a possible site in Baldwin County.

Mike Dow serves as a member of the board of the track venture.

Mike Dow worked to keep party politics out of city government.

Mike Dow's opposition consisted of white Republicans who appeared to rely on working-class whites for support.