Lowry’s Accuser Called Smart, Energetic, Savvy

As recently as 1991, Susanne Albright was just another student who had decided to go back to college in her mid-30s to finish her degree in journalism.

Less than four years later, she had become the No. 2 person in Gov. Mike Lowry’s press office, earning $48,000 a year, and was on the verge of a promotion in Lowry’s administration.

She left all that behind suddenly - and quietly, at first - on Nov. 18, when she decided “very persistent unacceptable behavior by the governor toward me … made it impossible for me to continue to work there.”

So who is this woman whose claims have made headlines for nearly a week?

Her former bosses and coworkers describe her as smart, energetic, politically savvy, self-starting, competent and hard-working.

The governor praised Albright as a valued and professional member of his staff in the letter in which he denied he did anything improper.

Albright, 37, came to Olympia as an intern in the University of Washington’s legislative reporting class. That program lets student pick up 12 credits while working as newspaper reporters. Albright wrote for The (Bellevue) Journal American.

She got her degree, but went to work in the City of Seattle budget office.

A job with the Senate Democrats brought her back to the capitol in October 1991. She wrote news releases, newsletters and speeches for four or five senators.

“I assigned her to the Seattle liberals,” said Linda Schactler, communications coordinator for the Senate Democrats. “She was a hard-core, true-believer Democrat from the left.”

Schactler said Albright’s experience with government budgets led her to give her the task of following the state budget, a complex document that is difficult to translate into everyday language.

She also worked for candidates, including Senate Majority Leader Marc Gaspard, D-Puyallup, state Rep. Greg Fisher, D-Normandy Park, and Tukwila City Councilman Clarence Moriwaki, then a colleague in the press office.

“She was really into whatever she was doing,” Schactler said. “When the governor’s job opened, we agreed she couldn’t pass it up. She was a Lowry Democrat, and the opportunity to work for one of 50 people in the United States (a governor) doesn’t come along every day. We knew she had to take it. I was very disappointed when she left.”