24 Facts About Dino Rossi

Dino John Rossi was born on October 15,1959 and is an American businessman and politician who served as a Washington State senator thrice, from 1997 to 2003, in 2012, and again from 2016 to 2017.

Originally from Seattle, Rossi graduated from Seattle University and later pursued a career in commercial real estate.

Dino Rossi ran for Governor of Washington in 2004, losing to Democrat Christine Gregoire by just 129 votes in the closest gubernatorial election in Washington state history.

Dino Rossi returned to the Washington State Senate, being appointed in 2012 and again from 2016 to 2017.

Dino Rossi was the youngest of seven children brought up by his mother Eve, a beautician of Irish and Tlingit ancestry, and his father John Dino Rossi, an Italian-American Seattle Public Schools teacher at Viewlands Elementary in North Seattle.

Dino Rossi was raised in Mountlake Terrace, graduated from Woodway High School in Edmonds, and earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Seattle University in 1982.

Dino Rossi followed Heide to two more firms as Heide was being investigated for fraud and false statements; Heide later pleaded guilty.

Dino Rossi later became a commercial real estate salesman, managing and owning real estate.

Dino Rossi was formerly an owner of the Everett Aquasox minor league baseball team.

Dino Rossi is co-founder of the Bellevue, Washington-based Eastside Commercial Bank.

In 1992, Dino Rossi ran for a Washington State Senate seat in a district representing suburbs east of Seattle, in the Cascade foothills.

In 1996, Dino Rossi ran again for the state senate and was elected.

Dino Rossi served in the Washington State Senate from 1997 until December 2003, when he resigned to spend full-time running for the governorship.

Dino Rossi sponsored the Dane Rempfer bill which boosted penalties for those who left the scene of a fatal accident, named after a 15-year-old boy from his district who was killed in a hit-and-run.

Dino Rossi decided to run in November 2003, but was already facing an uphill battle in terms of money raised, low name identification with voters and trends established by the two prior GOP candidates for governor.

Dino Rossi established Forward Washington Foundation, a 501 non-profit lobbying entity dedicated to promoting changes to Washington's small business climate.

On October 25,2007, Dino Rossi announced his intention to seek the office of Governor of Washington in 2008.

Dino Rossi's campaign was centered on many of the same issues he ran under in the 2004 election, namely controlling the spending of the state's legislature, tax cuts, and improving the business environment within the state.

Dino Rossi was defeated by Governor Christine Gregoire in the 2008 election and formally conceded at noon on November 5,2008.

On May 26,2010, Dino Rossi officially announced his candidacy for the US Senate.

On July 10,2012, Dino Rossi was appointed to fill the term of Senator Cheryl Pflug.

Dino Rossi left office in November 2012, when Mark Mullet was sworn in.

On September 19,2017, Dino Rossi announced that he would run for the US House of Representatives in the 8th Congressional District.

Dino Rossi is married, with four children, and lives in Sammamish, Washington.