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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Rob McKenna

A candidate for Governor, State of Washington in the 2012 Washington General Election

Party: Republican

Age: 61

City: Bellevue, WA

Occupation: Lawyer

NOTABLE: Currently finishing his second term as Washington’s attorney general; former King County councilman.

Contact information

Race Results

Candidate Votes Pct
Jay Inslee (D) 1,460,770 51.22%
Rob McKenna (R) 1,391,168 48.78%

Details & headlines

Related Coverage

McKenna says national GOP needs to rebrand

Attorney General Rob McKenna plans to join a private law firm after he leaves office in January and says it’s too early to say whether he might make another run for governor.

Governor candidates shelled out record dough

OLYMPIA – Even without the final spending tallied, this year’s Washington governor’s race was the most expensive in state history, and outside independent groups spent record amounts trying to persuade residents to vote against Jay Inslee or Rob McKenna. Post-election reports filed this week with the state Public Disclosure Commission show the Inslee and McKenna campaigns spent a combined $25.7 million to be Washington’s next governor. Including other candidates that were eliminated in the primary and money spent by incumbent Chris Gregoire before she opted out of the race, spending hit nearly $26.2 million, passing the record set in 2008 by nearly $1 million.

Gov race most expensive in WA history

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Minorities’ political power rising in statewide elections

SEATTLE – If pollster Matt Barreto is right, then Latino voters in Washington were one of the key factors in Gov.-elect Jay Inslee’s win over Republican candidate Rob McKenna. Barreto estimates that about 140,000 Latinos voted in these past elections. While there were no wide-ranging exit polls conducted here, by pooling polls Barreto roughly projects that Latinos in Washington broke similarly – about 3 to 1 – for the Democrat Inslee as they did for President Barack Obama.

Pollster: Latino voters boosted Inslee

If pollster Matt Barreto is right, then Latino voters in Washington were one of the key factors in Gov.-elect Jay Inslee’s win over Republican candidate Rob McKenna.

Spin Control: Waiting for election results doesn’t harm anyone

A familiar post-election refrain, as predictable as swallows returning to Capistrano or Cougar fans pinning their Apple Cup hopes on bad weather in Pullman, sounded last week. The amount of time Washington takes to count its ballots and settle elections predictably irked several politicians. The Secretary of State-elect Kim Wyman, Washington’s election chief in waiting, wants to require all ballots to be in elections officials’ hands by Election Day. State Sen. Randi Becker, R-Eatonville, said she’d introduce legislation to do just that.

Inslee captures governor’s race

Former U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, who promised to help solve Washington’s budget woes and boost its economy by trimming government and targeting industries of the future, will be the state’s next governor. Although elections officials may not know the final results of Inslee’s high-stakes battle with Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna for more than a week, McKenna acknowledged Friday evening that he would not be able to close the gap.

McKenna concedes; Inslee next governor

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Democrat Inslee will be Washington governor

OLYMPIA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna is conceding defeat.

McKenna aides still confident of victory

OLYMPIA – Republican Rob McKenna’s campaign insisted Thursday he would overtake Democrat Jay Inslee “next week or the week after” as ballot counting continued in Washington’s close gubernatorial race. But after Thursday’s counts the gap in their vote totals remained about the same: 54,000 more votes for Inslee.