Rob McKenna

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Rob McKenna
Washington Attorney General
Incumbent
Assumed office
2004
Current term ends
2012
Political party Republican
Website Official Washington Attorney General website

Contents

Robert "Rob" McKenna (born October 1, 1962, in Fort Sam Houston, Texas) is the current Republican Attorney General of Washington.

Education

  • Graduated from Sammamish High School (1980)
  • Bachelor's degree, University of Washington (1985) in economics and international studies
  • Juris Doctorate degree, University of Chicago Law School (1988)

Professional experience

Immediately upon graduating from law school, McKenna joined the law firm of Perkins Coie. He remained there until January 1996 as an attorney focusing mainly on business and regulatory law.

Political career

In November 1995, McKenna was elected as one of the thirteen members of the Metropolitan King County Council, representing the people of Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Newcastle, and Renton counties. Within this role, he wrote laws for one of the county's largest counties, specializing in budget, land use, and transportation. He was re-elected without opposition to the position in 1999 and 2003.

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.

As Washington Attorney General. McKenna is responsible for the largest public law office in the state, supervising over 1,200 employees and offices in twelve cities across the state. His office also serves more than 230 state agencies, boards, commissions, colleges, and universities, in addition to the Governor and the Legislature.

His 2008 re-election campaign received a bi-partisan boost when State Auditor Brian Sonntag and Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis, both Democrats, threw their support behind him.

Political issues

Felons and public records

McKenna was criticized for an amicus brief he published in early June 2008 that suggested that convicted felons do not have the same constitutional rights to open records as that of the average law-abiding citizen does. Shortly after this opinion was released, a Franklin County judge ruled that Allan Parmelee, a convicted arsonist who while in jail made numerous open record requests for personal information about various people in the legal system, had no legitimate purpose in requesting records from the jail where he was located.

Healthcare reform

In the wake of the historic passage of President Barack Obama's healthcare reform legislation on Christmas Eve in 2009, McKenna was one of ten Republican Attorney Generals questioning not only the constitutionality of a specific controversial provision within the Senate version of the bill, but also exploring potential legal challenges to the measure as well. The stipulation in question was the back room deal Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid struck with Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson to recruit him as the 60th vote needed to pass the measure, an arrangement "dubbed the 'Nebraska Compromise' or the 'Cornhusker Kickback' by GOP critics." The agreement gives Nebraska exemption from its share of the Medicaid expansion, "a carve out that is expected to cost the federal government $100 million over 10 years."

McKenna stated that one legal course of action Republican Attorney Generals are exploring is a lawsuit should the Senate version of the bill be signed into law by the President this February as he has promised. “One of the reasons we have checks and balances is to raise questions about what the majority is doing,” said McKenna in an interview. “We’re taking a second look at [the Nelson agreement] because we think it’s what the Constitution was designed to prevent.” [1]

Controversies

ACORN

See also: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now

The June 2008 Survey and Scorecard report published by the embattled liberal political organization, ACORN, gave McKenna an A- letter grade. The report was published to shine the spotlight on state attorney generals "leading the fight to protect homeowners from joining the flood of Americans losing their homes to foreclosure," so says the group. [2] The grade distributed to the individual attorney generals "generally broke down along party lines," with the exception of Louisiana's Buddy Caldwell. [3]

Campaign contributions

2008 Race for Attorney General - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $1,676,566
Total Raised by Primary Opponent N/A
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $586,039
Top 5 Contributors John Stanton and Theresa E. Gillespie $5,600 (0.33% of Total)
John and Sarah Rindlaub $4,400 (0.26%)
Richard W. and Nancy Alvord $4,000 (0.24%)
Associated General Contractors of Washington $4,000 (0.24%)
Associated Builders and Contractors $3,700 (0.22%)
Individuals v. Institutions $1,134,049 (67.6%)
$525,587 (31.3%)
In v. Outside State $1,440,601 (86.5%)
$224,710 (13.5%)

Electoral history

2004

2004 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary [4]
Candidates Percentage
Rob McKenna (R) 77.6%
Mike Vaska (R) 22.4%
Total votes 472,764
2004 Race for Attorney General - General Election [5]
Candidates Percentage
Rob McKenna (R) 53%
Deborah Senn (D) 43.3%
J. Bradley Gibson (Libertarian) 2.1%
Paul Richmond (Green) 1.6%
Total votes 2,690,144

2008

  • 2008 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary
    • Rob McKenna ran unopposed
2008 Race for Attorney General - General Election [6]
Candidates Percentage
Rob McKenna (R) 59.5%
John Ladenburg (D) 40.5%
Total votes 2,841,938

Family life

McKenna currently resides in Bellevue, Washington, with his wife, Marilyn, and their four children.

Contact Information

1125 Washington Street SE
PO Box 40100
Olympia, WA 98504-0100

Phone: (360) 753-6200

External links

References

  1. ↑ Politico "GOP AGs may sue over health bill" 24 Dec. 2009
  2. ↑ ACORN "Attorneys General Take Action: Real Leadership in Fighting Foreclosures" June 2008
  3. ↑ Majority in Mississippi "Jim Hood Received An “A” From ACORN In 2008" 17 Sept. 2009
  4. ↑ Washington Secretary of State - 2004 Republican Primary Results
  5. ↑ Washington Secretary of State - 2004 General Election Results
  6. ↑ Washington Secretary of State - 2008 General Election Results


Political offices
Preceded by
Christine Gregoire 		Washington Attorney General
2005–present 		Succeeded by
NA
v • d • e
State Attorneys General
   
Attorney General elections, 2010
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