Lieutenant Joel Pritchard Succeeded by Jim McDermott Preceded by Booth Gardner Political party Democratic | Succeeded by Gary Locke Name Mike Lowry Preceded by John Cunningham | |
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Born March 8, 1939 (age 85)
St. John, Washington ( 1939-03-08 ) | ||
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Michael Edward Lowry (March 8, 1939 – May 1, 2017) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the 20th Governor of the U.S. state of Washington from 1993 to 1997 and was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 7th district between 1979 and 1989.
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Life and career
Lowry was born and raised in St. John, Washington, the son of Helen (White) and Robert Lowry. He graduated from Washington State University in 1962. He had a brief career working for the Washington State Senate and as a lobbyist for Group Health Cooperative before being elected to the King County Council in 1975. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives from Washington's Seventh Congressional District in 1978, where he served until 1989.
Lowry twice ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate. In a 1983 special election, he was defeated by Republican former Governor Dan Evans, then an appointed Senator and the incumbent, in a race to replace Democrat Henry "Scoop" Jackson, and in 1988 he lost to Slade Gorton, also a Republican, in a close race. Lowry then began working at Seattle University and an environmental group.
Lowry was elected governor in 1992 and served for a single term (to date, he is the last governor of Washington state to serve only one term). His principal policy initiative was enactment of a statewide system of health insurance with premiums based on ability to pay. He chose not to run for re-election to a second term due to a sexual harassment scandal in which his deputy press secretary, Susanne Albright, accused him of making inappropriate remarks and fondling her. He was an unsuccessful candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands in 2000. More recently, Lowry was active in building affordable housing for Washington's migrant farm workers.
Lowry died on May 1, 2017 from complications of a stroke at the age of 78.
Comparison to Yasser Arafat
During his career, Mike Lowry was repeatedly compared to Yasser Arafat by both media and political opponents in the state of Washington, due to a perceived similarity in physical appearance between the two. According to some reports, Lowry shaved off a beard he formerly sported specifically to avoid comparisons to the Palestinian leader.