Rob McKenna
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- This article is about the Attorney-General for Washington state. For the character from the series Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy, see Minor characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Robert ("Rob") McKenna, a Republican from Bellevue, Washington, was elected Washington State Attorney General in November 2004.
It was his first run for state-wide office, but he had previously been a three-term member of the King County Council, representing Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Newcastle, and much of Renton. His re-elections were without opposition and was twice rated "Outstanding" by the Municipal League.
In 2004, 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 then defeated former Insurance Commissioner and Democratic Senate candidate Deborah Senn in the November General election.
McKenna's campaign centered 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.
Prior to his three terms on the King County Council - where he chaired the Regional Transit Committee - he was a business and regulatory law attorney in private practice with the firm of Perkins Coie.
As attorney general, he directs 500 attorneys and nearly 700 professional staff providing legal services to state agencies, boards and commissions. In early November, 2006, Mr. McKenna signed and approved a mass-mailed letter that featured a letterhead with the words: "Rob McKenna Washington State Attorney General" and an image of a robed woman holding scales. The letter advised recipients to vote for Mike Riley, a Republican candidate for State Senator. The bottom of the letter notes that it was paid for by the Washington State Republican Party. An image of this letter is at http://www.osculatrix.info/images/AG_letter.jpg.
General McKenna’s ongoing priorities are: Keeping communities safer by leading the state in fighting meth, sexual predators and domestic violence; protecting consumers and businesses from identity theft, fraud and high-tech crimes, such as cyber fraud, phishing and spyware; and promoting good government by defending the state’s laws, implementing new performance management initiatives in his office and encouraging open access to government.
As part of his Operation: Allied Against Meth program, he drafted and passed a comprehensive new statewide methamphetamine initiative and formed the Pacific Northwest Precursor Chemical Committee. He has also presented the Operation: Allied Against Meth school assembly to more than 20,000 students at schools across Washington.
He convened the first Statewide Identity Theft Conference and formed working groups to fight this crime. He will continue working to pass legislation allowing citizens to freeze access to their credit before they become victims of ID theft.
In response to the rising victimization of Latino consumers, AG McKenna convened two Latino Consumer Protection Summits in SeaTac and Yakima to identify new ways to reach this community and improve access to CP tools.
Under AG McKenna’s leadership, the Office of the Attorney General was the first state agency to implement a performance management plan that rewards high-performing employees who achieve rigorous goals with performance pay.
During his tenure as attorney general, AG McKenna has been named: National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) Executive Board Member; NAAG Tobacco Committee Co-Chair; One of Washington CEO Magazine’s Most Amazing Attorneys of 2006; One of Seattle Magazine’s 26 Most Influential People in Seattle; Outstanding Leader of the Year by the Eastside Domestic Violence Program; and Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow in Public Leadership.
He graduated from University of Washington with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and International Studies, both with honors, where he was president of the Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW, the UW's student body), and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. McKenna received his J.D. from University of Chicago Law School in 1988, where he was a member of the Law Review. .
McKenna, an Eagle Scout and currently a board member with the Chief Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America, was born on October 1, 1962 at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the son of a career Army officer.
His wife is Marilyn McKenna and they have four children. They belong to St. Louise Roman Catholic Parish and live in Bellevue.
| Preceded by Christine Gregoire (D) |
Washington State Attorney General 2005 – present |
Incumbent |
