Rob McKenna

This article is about the Attorney General for Washington. For the character from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, see List of minor The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy characters#Rob McKenna.

Rob McKenna
17th Attorney General of Washington
Incumbent
Assumed office January 12, 2005
Governor	Christine Gregoire
Preceded by	Christine Gregoire
Personal details
Born	Robert Marion McKenna October 1, 1962 (1962-10-01) Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Marilyn McKenna
Alma mater	University of Washington University of Chicago Law School
Profession	Lawyer
Religion	Roman Catholic

Robert Marion "Rob" McKenna (born October 1, 1962) is the Republican Attorney General of Washington and was elected in November 2004 for a term beginning in January 2005. He won re-election in November 2008 with over 59 percent statewide. He is a 2012 candidate for Governor of Washington.

McKenna is an Eagle Scout, was student body president at the University of Washington, and attended the University of Chicago Law School, where he was on the law review.

Early life, education, and early law career

McKenna was born in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the son of Bonnie Jean (née Olson) and Robert Elliott McKenna, an Army officer. His ancestry includes Irish, Norwegian, and German. He grew up at posts in Germany, Bangkok (where he attended the International School Bangkok), San Francisco and Kansas before his family settled in Bellevue, Washington when he was 14.

He graduated from Sammamish High School in Bellevue in 1980. He earned two bachelor's degrees, in Economics and International Studies, from the University of Washington and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was student body president in 1984–85. He received a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1988.

After graduating from law school, McKenna worked as an attorney at the law firm of Perkins Coie, one of the 50 largest firms in the country, where he practiced mainly business and regulatory law from June 1988 to January 1996.

Early political career

He was elected to the Metropolitan King County Council in November 1995, took office in January 1996, and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003. As councilman, he represented Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Newcastle, and much of Renton. His re-elections were without opposition and he was twice rated "Outstanding" by the Municipal League.

He is also currently serving as co-chair of the Campaign for Equal Justice.

Attorney general

As Washington's 17th Attorney General, McKenna manages the largest public law office in the state with approximately 1,150 employees and offices in 13 cities statewide: Bellingham, Port Angeles, Everett, Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Wenatchee, Spokane, Yakima, Kennewick, Vancouver, Tumwater, and Pullman. The Washington Attorney General's Office serves over 230 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges, and universities, as well as the Governor and Legislature. As Attorney General, McKenna has made the protection of consumers and businesses, the improvement community safety, and the advancement of open government his chief priorities. He has also argued before the U.S. Supreme Court three times to defend Washington state laws from challenges, and has won each time.

2004 election

McKenna based his 2004 campaign for the office of Attorney General around three areas of protection he promised to bring to Washingtonians: protection of the safety of families by fighting crimes such as identity theft, internet fraud, and child pornography, and supporting local police, sheriffs, and prosecutors; protection of rights by controlling regulation and supporting the public's right to know what the government is doing; and protection of pocketbooks by counseling state agencies to avoid costly trial and litigation, bringing reform in the matter of reducing what some see as unfair burdens placed on doctors, hospitals, and other professionals.

McKenna developed broad-based alliances to win the election, attracting the support of prosecutors, police chiefs and sheriffs, along with farm and business leaders one at a time and then leveraging those endorsements into broader support. He also built nontraditional alliances with tribal leaders, public safety unions, firefighters and other moderates in both parties. He defeated political novice Mike Vaska, a private attorney from Issaquah, in the Republican primary for state Attorney General, with approximately 70 percent of the vote. He defeated former Insurance Commissioner and Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Senn in the November General election and was one of just a few Republicans to win statewide office in 2004.

First term

In his first year as Attorney General, McKenna founded "Operation: Allied Against Meth", a program designed to reduce the drug's manufacture and use in Washington. The initiative included an increase in the law enforcement and prosecution personnel dedicated to cracking down on methamphetamine-related crimes, a statewide educational program to help prevent the use of the drug, and a legislative alliance devoted to improving Washington's meth problem. Since the initiative began, deaths from methamphetamine use in Washington have fallen by a third, while the incidence of driving under the influence of meth decreased by over 25 percent.

During his inaugural term, he created Washington's Law Enforcement Group against Identity Theft (LEGIT), and was subsequently named as one of Security Magazine's 25 most influential people in security. He was also active in the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) during his first term, co-chairing both the Financial Practices Committee and the Tobacco Committee during his first term. Acting in this capacity, he helped lead cases against subprime lenders that resulted in the largest settlements in the history of American consumer protection lawsuits.

2008 election

McKenna kicked off his 2008 campaign in November 2007. He received the support of two Democrats, State Auditor Brian Sonntag and Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis. He defeated Pierce County executive John Ladenburg in the 2008 election with over 59 percent of the vote.

Second term

In his second term, McKenna continued to be active in the National Association of Attorneys General, serving as co-chair on various committees and receiving the NAAG's Distinguished Service Award before becoming Vice-President of the organization in 2009. In 2010, he was elected President of NAAG, and assumed the office on June 22, 2011. He launched his Presidential Initiative, a program called "Pillars of Hope" aimed at reducing human trafficking in the US, in Chicago on the following day.

On Monday March 22, 2010 McKenna announced that he was joining a multi-state challenge to the constitutionality of a health care overhaul bill passed by US Congress and signed by President Obama.

McKenna decided against defending the Washington State Department of Public Lands in a Superior Court appeal, effectively allowing the Okanogan County PUD to condemn an easement across state trust land. On June 21, 2010 Public Lands Commissioner Peter Goldmark filed a petition with the State Supreme Court asking the Attorney General to represent the agency and the State.

2012 gubernatorial election

Main article: Washington gubernatorial election, 2012

In June 2011, he announced that he would run for Governor of Washington. He said "We deserve a governor who will bring us a leaner, better-run state government that doesn't demand endless tax increases before it delivers results to its bosses, you the taxpayers."

Personal life

McKenna and his wife, Marilyn, have four children, and reside in Bellevue, Washington. An Eagle Scout, he serves on the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Bellevue Schools Foundation and the Eastside Domestic Violence Program. He serves as co-chair of the Campaign for Equal Justice.

External links

• "State of Washington biography". http://www.atg.wa.gov/page.aspx?ID=1730. 

Legal offices
Preceded by Christine Gregoire (D)	Washington State Attorney General 2005–present	Incumbent