Lindauer's father, John Lindauer, owned newspapers in Alaska and was the Republican nominee for governor there in 1998. He was defeated and later pleaded no contest to two charges stemming from campaign finance problems related to the campaign. He received a one-year suspended sentence, two years of probation and a $15,000 fine.Susan Lindauer also is a distant cousin of White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan.
Lindauer worked at Fortune, U.S. News & World Report and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer before beginning her career as a political publicist.
She worked for Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., in 1993 and Rep. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., in 1994, before joining the office of former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun as press secretary in 1996. From March to May 2002, she worked for Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
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