At MSU, Cowen serves as a professor of education policy. He said his research helped guide him toward his decision to run for office.

"A lot of the work I was doing before getting involved in a more political way was asking questions through research and writing about, what, how to make public schools work for everyone," Cowen said. "Over time there’s been a lot of, sort of, pretty aggressive challenges to making sure that all kids have that opportunity, and I’ve been trying to push back on some of those challenges."

The main challenge that Cowen is pushing back against is school voucher programs. School voucher programs allow states to provide financial aid to families for schooling. Cowen sees this as a way for students to make their way out into the marketplace, instead of depending on the public school system. His goal it to go against "right-wing billionaires" who are seeking to "privatize or education system."

"This that was really at the core of why I decided to jump into the race for Congress," Cowen said. "A lot of these decisions, right now, are being made at the level of congress."

Cowen said his broader campaign is focused on standing up for children and families across Michigan. That includes expanding affordable healthcare, lowering costs and ensuring access to stable jobs.

"That’s really the core issue of the campaign here, really what it comes down to is just investing in families across the board," Cowen said.

What Cowen believes sets him apart from other candidates is his experience — both professionally and personally. He’s spent his entire career working alongside school leaders and educators, and the past 12 years living in Ingham County, which is part of the district he hopes to represent.

Professor emeritus David Arsen, who worked with Cowen at MSU before retiring in 2022, said few researchers make the leap into politics the way Cowen is now doing.

When at MSU, Arsen saw Cowen join a group of education policy professors, working to help establish the education policy program at MSU. He noted that through his work and research at MSU, Cowen has managed to get to "the top of his field, at a relatively young age."

"That group is ranked sixth nationally in the U.S. News & World Report and Cowen was a key member of that group," Arsen said. "Cowen is an exceptionally strong researcher. He was very very productive."

While Arsen said Cowen was not overtly political during his early years at MSU, he noticed a shift in tone over time.

"He was able to write a book focused on vouchers in which he drew on his expertise, but he also said, you know, the research is rigged," Arsen said. "There are a handful of researchers who are leading the proponents for vouchers, and they are heavily funded by interested parties."

Cowen’s 2024 book, 'The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers', marks that shift. Arsen said it’s evidence of Cowen’s deepening political engagement.

"If he were elected, for instance, and sat on an education committee in the U.S. Congress, he would be a powerful voice."

Cowen will face Republican Tom Barrett, the district’s current representative, in the race. Cowen said he sees Barrett as his main opponent and criticizes his record on MSU.

"My view is that he’s (Barrett) not doing enough to protect those investments in families," Cowen said. "I don’t think he’s doing enough to protect MSU here."

Cowen is referencing the "10% cut" of jobs at MSU, which Cowen says was allowed to happen, due to the Trump administration’s alliance with Barrett. He wants to be the voice against this.

Comparative cultures and politics junior and president of College Democrats at Michigan State Jaiden Holloway is excited to see more of what Cowen has to say.

"I know he’s running on relatively progressive policy issues and on fighting billionaires in politics which is something that I am definitely for," Holloway said.

Based on what Holloway has learned since seeing Cowen enter the race, he thinks Cowen adds value by being an educator in politics. This is especially valuable, Holloway noted, with the Trump administrations direct attacks on higher education.

"I think it is great that we could possibly have someone with direct ties representing us in Congress," Holloway said. "He (Cowen) will definitely he would bring a very unique perspective to the United States Congress with his past experience as an educator at one of those universities."

As for Barrett, Holloway thinks that not only is he not the person to be representing this district but an "unsensible, incompetent person" and is an ill-representation of the issues that need to be taken care of in this district. To Holloway, the greatest issue at hand is the protection of MSU, as he sees it as a large focal point of this district.