{"id":39934,"date":"2012-05-18T09:04:47","date_gmt":"2012-05-18T15:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=39934"},"modified":"2012-05-19T14:34:07","modified_gmt":"2012-05-19T20:34:07","slug":"hard-work-faith-shape-sowards-vision-for-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/05\/hard-work-faith-shape-sowards-vision-for-america\/","title":{"rendered":"Hard work, faith shape Sowards\u2019 vision for America"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Greg<\/a>

Greg Sowards (Courtesy photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Greg Sowards is a hard worker and a man of faith who has never been afraid to take on the establishment or forge his own path.<\/h4>\n

This is the last of\u00a0four profiles<\/a> of the U.S. Senate candidates that seek to tell the stories of who they are and what shaped them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Greg Sowards<\/a> has gotten much of what he wanted from life, and he attributes that primarily to hard work.<\/p>\n

He has a big family that has always been frugal, which gave him the money he needed to tinker with ideas, apply for patents and invest in business opportunities. He\u2019s held side jobs when necessary. Once he worked as a runner for UPS during the Christmas season.<\/p>\n

His success helped shape the vision he\u2019s long held for changing America. It\u2019s a vision that, in many ways, looks like views held by today\u2019s Tea Party, but he\u2019s been pushing it for a long time.<\/p>\n

Sowards decided to challenge then-U.S. Rep. Joe Skeen<\/a> in the 1996 Republican primary largely because he was concerned about the growing national debt. It was then that Sowards developed a list of questions he\u2019s been promising to use as a test for whether he will vote on legislation:<\/p>\n

Is it worth putting our children and grandchildren into debt? What effect does it have on America\u2019s traditional family? Does it take rights away from law-abiding citizens and give them to criminals? Does it strengthen and uphold the U.S. Constitution? Does it protect the sovereignty of America?<\/p>\n

Sowards didn\u2019t defeat Skeen, but he now says not even he expected that to happen. He did win 30 percent of the vote. He ran again for the seat in 2008, getting into a five-way primary in which two opponents had lots of help from national political action committees. Sowards finished fourth<\/a> that year. He likes to point out that he came within two percentage points of finishing second.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s back on the ballot as a Republican U.S. Senate candidate. And though the odds are overwhelmingly in Heather Wilson\u2019s favor<\/a> in the GOP primary, Sowards remains focused and determined.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s who he is. Sowards is a true believer in the cause. He\u2019s a hard worker and a man of faith. He\u2019s never been afraid to take on the establishment or forge his own path.<\/p>\n

\u2018I always worked\u2019<\/h3>\n

Until he was 14, Sowards lived in the Northeast Heights of Albuquerque, which at the time was the edge of the city. Then his family moved to a small farm and ranch they owned in Los Lunas, where they raised cattle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always worked,\u201d Sowards said. \u201cMy dad taught me to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

After high-school graduation, Sowards went to New Mexico Military Institute, which he said was a difficult transition \u201cbecause I was not used to being told what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He started boxing, gained some respect from his classmates and people in Roswell, and, he said, kept a smile on his face.<\/p>\n

Then, for a time, he worked as a machinist in Albuquerque. His father was also a machinist.<\/p>\n

In 1969, Sowards received his military draft notice. He intended to get a student deferment and was told it would take two months to kick in. So in September 1969 and in a bit of limbo, he set out on his motorcycle on a trip across the Northwestern United States and Canada. On the way back he stopped in Colorado to stay with a friend who was attending college and worked for a time loading squash onto trucks.<\/p>\n

The student deferment was not meant to be. After Sowards returned to Albuquerque, the December 1969 draft lottery made clear he was joining the military. Rather than waiting to be called up, he enlisted.<\/p>\n

Sowards was on active duty for three years. He spent a few months in Alabama working with the National Bureau of Standards. Then, during the Vietnam War, he was sent to Korea. He didn\u2019t see combat.<\/p>\n

But his military service and the Vietnam War helped shape his views on the problems with the U.S. government. Sowards, who was unmarried at the time, says he told friends shortly after returning from Korea that, \u201cIf we were serious about winning the war in Vietnam, I would reenlist so that some married man back in the states would not have to \u2013 but we are not serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Settling down<\/h3>\n

Sowards returned to Albuquerque, enrolled at the University of New Mexico and met Karen, who would become his wife. It was at that time that Sowards, who grew up involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, decided to make a more active commitment to the church.<\/p>\n

Karen had recently joined the church, and Sowards said he \u201cfought my way back.\u201d That battle he said, including changing friends, but he didn\u2019t go into a lot of detail about that period in his life.<\/p>\n

He did say the group of friends he hung out with during his earlier years in college used to speculate about whether he would someday run for Congress, but he eventually \u201cbroke away from that group.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a time of change. People were looking for something\u2026 and they didn\u2019t know where to find it,\u201d Sowards said when asked about that group. \u201cI just decided I wanted to settle down, get married.\u201d<\/p>\n

Which he and Karen did. He later transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, to finish his teaching degree.<\/p>\n

On graduation day, Sowards was in a cap and gown with two sons in his arms. Today he and Karen have six adult children and 20 grandchildren.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not everybody has the fortitude\u2019<\/h3>\n
\n
\n
\"\u201cA<\/a><\/dt>\n

\u201cA lot of people have ideas, but not everybody has the fortitude to stick with it.\u201d \u2013 Greg Sowards<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

From there Sowards moved to Amarillo, Texas, where he taught at a school for troubled boys. Then he moved to Missouri, where he started a business and taught school. In 1987, he and his family moved to Las Cruces, where Karen had lived as a teenager.<\/p>\n

Sowards taught school for one year in Las Cruces before he and his wife started their child-care business that, today, has six centers in the Las Cruces area, employs 75 people and cares for more than 600 children.<\/p>\n

Along the way, Sowards was awarded five U.S. patents. He invented Kwik Kik<\/a>, a soccer-training device.<\/p>\n

Sowards is proud of his patents and says they are indicative of his work ethic and determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people have ideas, but not everybody has the fortitude to stick with it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

A vision for America<\/h3>\n

Today, Sowards says his faith is an integral part of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great for me. I say whatever works for somebody in their life, then that\u2019s wonderful. But it has worked for me,\u201d he said. \u201cMy children are all active, and my grandchildren, I know where they\u2019ll be Sundays. And that\u2019s nice. I think that\u2019s something that, in today\u2019s world, is reassuring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowards\u2019 vision for America<\/a> stems largely from his work ethic and his faith. He envisions a very limited federal government and much of the work that needs to be done taking place on a local level \u2013 through local and state governments, churches and other organizations, and through the dedication and sacrifice of people who have worked hard and have something to give back.<\/p>\n

Such a societal structure, he believes, would create a shared sense of purpose in communities and force them to solve their own problems. He said that, not federal subsidies and entitlements, will help eliminate poverty and other ills.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn working hard, you realize there are fruits to working hard. Those fruits are yours, or should be,\u201d he said. \u201cThen there\u2019s room for compassion, but that\u2019s up to you. Your relationship with God is what shapes your compassion, your desire to be compassionate with your goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the opposite of how Washington approaches things, Sowards said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey feel compassionate when they hang on to their money but distribute other people\u2019s money. They call that compassion,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t see that as compassion. I see that as extortion, and it\u2019s all for their glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowards promised that he won\u2019t be bought by that system if elected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will not come back to New Mexico and explain to those I love most, and that is my family, how I was won over by Washington, how I sold out,\u201d he said. \u201cThat I will not do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re all looking for leadership\u2019<\/h3>\n

Why has Sowards continued to challenge the status quo in the GOP and America by running for office? He\u2019s passionate about what he believes are true, conservative principles society should follow. He considers them critical to the future of America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love America. I love the freedoms that we have,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re the envy of the Earth and I think we\u2019re in a position that we could lose it if we don\u2019t change the kind of people that we send to Washington.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sowards said his children and wife has also pushed him to continue running. Like him, they\u2019re hard workers and true believers. Sowards has invested a great deal of his own money over the years in his races. He believes he can help change America.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re primed as a nation, we\u2019re all looking for leadership, and I believe I\u2019ll provide that,\u201d he said. \u201cI guess that\u2019s what compels me.\u201d<\/p>\n

A prior version of this article incorrectly quoted Sowards as saying\u00a0\u201cMy children are all active, and my grandchildren, I know where they\u2019ll be someday\u201d rather than\u00a0\u201cI know where they\u2019ll be Sundays.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Greg Sowards is a hard worker and a man of faith who has never been afraid to take on the establishment or forge his own path.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[156,118,177,199,290,227,116],"class_list":["post-39934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-2012-election","tag-economy","tag-religion","tag-tea-party","tag-u-s-senate-profiles","tag-u-s-senate-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39934\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}