Howlett was All-American water polo player, participating on ten championship teams of the Illinois Athletic Club.

[1] He graduated from St. Mel High School and briefly attended DePaul University, leaving in 1934 to become a state bank examiner.

While Hodge was removed from office and eventually sent to prison, Howlett lost the general election to Elbert Sidney Smith as part of a national Republican landslide.

During Howlett's first term as Auditor, he cut the budget of the office by 20%, and returned over $600,000 of the funds stolen by Hodge to the state treasury.

A report issued by former Illinois Supreme Court Justice Marvin Burt at the behest of Republican state Attorney General William J. Scott was highly critical of Howlett.

[3] However, Walker's attacks during the bitter primary weakened Howlett, and by August, Thompson held a slim lead in the polls.

[3] His lead expanded during the campaign, and Howlett ended up losing by 30 percentage points (nearly 1.4 million votes), the widest margin of defeat for any Democratic Nominee for Governor of Illinois in history.