Mike Lowry photograph collection, 1973-1988

Michael E. Lowry, commonly known as Mike, served in local, state, and national government during his public career.

Born in 1939 in Eastern Washington, Lowry attended public schools in Endicott and graduated from Washington State University in 1962. After working for the Washington State Legislature’s Senate Ways and Means Committee in 1969-1973, Lowry served on the King County Council in 1975-1978, chairing it in 1977.

In 1978 he won a seat to Congress over conservative incumbent Republican Jack Cunningham in the overwhelmingly Democratic 7th Congressional District, which includes the city of Seattle and its southern suburbs. The 7th District's population was mainly Caucasian, but also included Seattle’s African American and Japanese American communities, as well as a growing population of Asian immigrants.

After Senator Henry M. Jackson’s sudden death in 1983, Lowry defeated the former mayor of Seattle, Charles Royer, in the Democratic primary for senator. Although he was unsuccessful in the general election against former governor Daniel Evans, who had been appointed to fill Jackson’s vacant seat, Lowry did win 45% of the vote.

Lowry opposed many policies of the Reagan Administration, as cuts in social programs adversely affected many of his constituents in the central area of Seattle. He was an ardent opponent of aid to the Contras in Nicaragua and other aspects of Reagan’s Latin America policy. He championed reparations for Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II and environmental measures, such as the Washington Wilderness bill. Lowry’s voting record reflected his activist and liberal stance in the House.

Lowry served on the House Budget Committee, and by his last year in Congress was the third-ranking Democrat. On the Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee, he chaired the Panama Canal and Outer Shelf Subcommittee, and the Oceanography Subcommittee.

Re-elected four times to Congress, Lowry made another run for the U.S. Senate in 1988. He defeated Washington State Senator Jim McDermott in the primary but lost in the general election to former State Attorney General Slade Gorton. In 1992 Lowry was elected governor of Washington state and served through 1997.

In his retirement from public life, Lowry taught at Seattle University’s Institute for Public Service and joined with his former opponent Dan Evans to promote the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. He also ran two nonprofit foundations that encouraged citizen participation in government and addressed needs of the working poor.