[2] Dowling ran for a seat to the Alberta Legislature in a by-election held on October 28, 1969 in the electoral district of Edson.
He won a hotly contested race defeating three other candidates including NDP leader Grant Notley to pick up the electoral district of the Progressive Conservative party who formed the official opposition at the time.
[3] Dowling ran for a second term in office a couple years later in the 1971 Alberta general election, which saw the Progressive Conservatives come to power.
[4] After the election, new Premier Peter Lougheed appointed Dowling to his first cabinet as a Minister without portfolio responsible for Tourism.
Dowling ran for a third term in the 1975 Alberta general election, his first time standing for re-election with ministerial advantage.