A Democrat, he first entered politics in 1992 as a member of the Maine House of Representatives.
[3] In 2001, Rowe was elected as the 54th Maine Attorney General, serving eight years in that position.
In 2009, Rowe became Counsel at Verrill Dana, a Portland law firm.
He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Maine in 2010.
In 2015, Rowe assumed the position of President and CEO of the Maine Community Foundation.