30 Facts About Rob McKenna

Robert Marion McKenna was born on October 1,1962 and is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 17th attorney general of Washington from 2005 to 2013 after serving on the Metropolitan King County Council from 1996 to 2005.

Rob McKenna grew up at posts in Germany, Bangkok, San Francisco and Kansas before his family settled in Bellevue, Washington when he was 14.

Rob McKenna graduated from Sammamish High School in Bellevue in 1980.

Rob McKenna earned two bachelor's degrees, in Economics and International Studies, from the University of Washington and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Rob McKenna received a JD from the University of Chicago Law School in 1988.

Rob McKenna was elected to the King County Council in November 1995, took office in January 1996, and was re-elected in 1999 and 2003.

Rob McKenna's re-elections were without opposition and he was twice rated "Outstanding" by the Municipal League.

Rob McKenna served as co-chair of the Campaign for Equal Justice.

Rob McKenna argued before the US Supreme Court three times to defend Washington state laws from challenges, and won each time.

Rob 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.

Rob McKenna built nontraditional alliances with tribal leaders, public safety unions, firefighters and other moderates in both parties.

Rob McKenna 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.

Rob McKenna 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.

Rob McKenna was active in the National Association of Attorneys General during his first term, co-chairing both the Financial Practices Committee and the Tobacco Committee during his first term.

Rob McKenna received the support of two Democrats, State Auditor Brian Sonntag and Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Janice Ellis.

Rob McKenna defeated Pierce County executive John Ladenburg in the 2008 election with over 59 percent of the vote.

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

The ongoing legal battle grew into a 26 state coalition of plaintiffs, including Rob McKenna, who maintained his original motivation to see the provision for mandatory purchase of private individual health-insurance plans by 2014 struck down for being unconstitutional.

Rob McKenna differed from his co-plaintiffs by supporting the law's several provisions pertaining to patient protection; the other opponents wanted the entire law scrapped.

In June 2011, Rob McKenna announced that he would run for Governor of Washington.

Rob McKenna won 31 of 39 counties, with many of his greatest margins in Washington's most rural areas.

In 2021, Rob McKenna joined a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state's capital gains tax.

Rob McKenna opposed I-1098, a ballot initiative to impose state income taxes on households earning more than $400,000.

On May 20,2021, Rob McKenna joined a lawsuit against a capital gains tax signed into law by Washington governor and his 2012 gubernatorial opponent Jay Inslee.

Rob McKenna wants to end the unfair distribution of education funding, which gives more funding to schools with students that come from wealthier families.

Rob McKenna is pro-choice, and wants to ensure that all pharmacies sell the morning-after pill.

Rob McKenna opposes drug legalization and he supports strategies to cut down on drug trafficking and trade.

Rob McKenna is the founder of "Operation: Allied Against Meth".

Rob McKenna has four grown children and resides in Seattle, Washington.