Robert Marion McKenna (born October 1, 1962) 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. A member of the Republican Party, he ran for Governor of Washington in 2012, losing to Democrat Jay Inslee.

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. He currently is a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in Seattle where he represents a wide range of technology and other companies in matters involving cyber security, data privacy, litigation, appellate litigation, regulatory proceedings, state attorney general investigations, and legislative issues.

To date, he is the most recent Republican to serve as Attorney General of Washington.

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.

Attorney General of Washington

As Washington's 17th Attorney General, McKenna managed 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 made the protection of consumers and businesses, the improvement of community safety and the advancement of open government his chief priorities. He also argued before the U.S. Supreme Court three times to defend Washington state laws from challenges, and 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.

During his inaugural term, he created Washington's Law Enforcement Group against Identity Theft (LEGIT), and was subsequently named as one of Security Magazines 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. 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 March 22, 2010 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 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. 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.

2012 gubernatorial election and aftermath

In June 2011, McKenna announced that he would run for Governor of Washington. When announcing his gubernatorial campaign, 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."

McKenna faced Democratic nominee Jay Inslee, a U.S. Representative. Polls showed a close race. Inslee defeated McKenna, winning 52% of the vote. McKenna won 31 of 39 counties, with many of his greatest margins in Washington's most rural areas. Inslee won 62% of the vote in King County, Washington's largest, which proved decisive. In 2021, McKenna joined a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the state's capital gains tax.

Political positions

Tax policy

McKenna has, on several occasions, defended the "2/3 rule" requiring a two-thirds vote before any tax increases. He opposed I-1098, a ballot initiative to impose state income taxes on households earning more than $400,000. He supports increasing the Business & Occupation (B&O) tax credit to $4,800 per year for small businesses in all categories. Prior to a US Supreme Court ruling allowing such action; McKenna has proposed requiring out-of-state businesses that sell into Washington (including online and mail-order companies) to pay state taxes, even if they lack a physical presence there. Washington began collecting sales tax from out-of-state companies in 2018. On May 20, 2021, McKenna joined a lawsuit against a capital gains tax signed into law by Washington governor and his 2012 gubernatorial opponent Jay Inslee. The lawsuit alleges that the tax is a state income tax in disguise and is unconstitutional due to precedent, with a graduated state income tax being declared unconstitutional in 1933. In September 2021, Grant County superior court judge Brian Huber allowed this lawsuit to move forward.

Education

McKenna supports increased funding for colleges and K-12 education. Despite the Washington State Supreme Court decision (McCleary v State of Washington) that found the Washington State government was not meeting its obligation to sufficiently fund public schools, McKenna remains a strong proponent of school choice and charter schools. He wants to end the unfair distribution of education funding, which gives more funding to schools with students that come from wealthier families. In doing this, McKenna hopes to increase class mobility for low-income students.

Abortion

McKenna is pro-choice, and wants to ensure that all pharmacies sell the morning-after pill. As a general provision, McKenna would support legislation that would require parental notification before a minor obtains an abortion. "I'm like a lot of parents," McKenna said. "When your daughter turns 13 and the mom is kicked out of the examining room for anything related to reproductive health, it's troubling for a lot of parents."

Drug policy

McKenna opposes drug legalization and he supports strategies to cut down on drug trafficking and trade. He is the founder of "Operation: Allied Against Meth".

References

  • Biography at Ballotpedia
  • Our Campaigns – Rob McKenna (WA) profile
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  • Financial information (state office) at the National Institute for Money in State Politics
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