Herman Cain was pressed for his circle of economic advisers at Tuesday’s debate. Who is Rich Lowrie?

Herman Cain says his much-touted 9-9-9 plan is the product of extensive testing and thinking, but the only man he cited as involved with its research — Rich Lowrie of Cleveland — is not a trained economist.

Instead, Lowrie — who’s the only economic adviser Cain has been willing to mention by name — is a wealth manager for a division of Wells Fargo and according to his LinkedIn page holds an accountancy degree from Case Western Reserve University. Lowrie also spent three years on the advisory board of the conservative third-party group Americans For Prosperity.


The former Godfather’s Pizza CEO was pressed for his circle of economic advisers at Tuesday’s debate in response to a question from moderator Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post.

“My advisers come from the American people. Now, I will have some experts. One of my experts that helped me to develop this is a gentleman by the name of Rich Lowrie out of Cleveland, Ohio,” Cain said during the debate. “He is an economist, and he has worked in the business of wealth creation most of his career.”

While not on stage, Lowrie hasn’t remained silent tonight. He’s been tweeting his support of the economic plan he has helped shape and responding to the criticism Cain’s rivals piled on on-stage.

The Cain campaign first acknowledged Lowrie’s ties to the campaign last month, after an interview on “Fox News Sunday” during which Cain repeatedly refused to name the advisers who had helped him develop his economic plan.

“They have their own independent businesses, and I don’t want to compromise their confidentiality at this point,” Cain told host Chris Wallace. “When they tell me it is OK to mention their names publicly, I will mention it.”

Though Cain’s been unwilling to reveal the names of his advisers, he has held up the 9-9-9 plan as a model of transparency. On stage at the debate on Tuesday, Cain repeated a favorite line, that one of the steps to problem solving he often boasts is to “surround yourself with the right people.”

Cain also said on Tuesday that he had two potential nominees to appoint as Federal Reserve chairman, but he refused to name them, either.

“I got to keep them confidential,” Cain said.