Bowman served as a Democratic State Senator from Maine's 1st District, representing part of York County, including his residence in Kittery.

He was first elected to the Maine Senate in 2006 after incumbent Republican Mary Andrews did not seek re-election.

(Ocean Engineering) and M.B.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and MIT Sloan School of Management in 1973.

[1] Commissioned through the NROTC program in 1960, he spent 30 years serving in the Navy and was commander of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from 1987 to 1990, which he cited as making him a more effective legislator.

After retirement from active duty, Bowman was nominated to be a Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commissioner by President George H. W. Bush in 1993.