[1] A member of the Democratic Party, Lowry served as a United States Representative from Washington's 7th congressional district from 1979 to 1989, and unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 1983 and 1988.

Lowry 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.

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.

He chose not to run for reelection due to a sexual harassment scandal in which his deputy press secretary, Susanne Albright, accused him of making inappropriate remarks and fondling her.

[5][6] During Lowry's career, he was often 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.