Meet the candidates

Republican candidates for attorney general:

Rob McKenna

Personal: 42; married, with four children

Education: The son of an Army officer, McKenna grew up at posts in Germany, Bangkok, San Francisco and Kansas. Graduated from Sammamish High School in Bellevue, Wash., in 1980, and earned dual bachelor’s degrees in economics and international studies from the University of Washington in 1985. Earned law degree in 1988 from the University of Chicago law school.

Professional: Worked for the Seattle law firm Perkins Coie from 1988 to 1995, doing mostly business and regulatory law.

Political: Elected to the King County Council in 1996, running unopposed in 1999 and 2003.

Key issues: “Protecting people’s rights, protecting public safety and protecting taxpayers’ pocketbooks.” The specifics: As the state’s lawyer, McKenna said he’d make sure that state government follows the law. He’s annoyed, for example, at state agencies’ violations of the state public records laws. He said he would protect public safety by being the state’s “top advocate for law enforcement.” And he said he would protect taxpayers by reducing lawsuits against the state and pushing for changes to reduce liability lawsuits against anyone, not just the state.

Money raised/spent: $691,000 raised as of Aug. 17; more than $299,000 spent.

Mike Vaska

Personal: 43; married, with two sons

Education: Raised in Redmond, a Seattle suburb, Vaska graduated from Lake Washington High School in Kirkland in 1978. Graduated from Stanford University in 1982, with a double major in economics and history. Earned law degree in 1985 from the University of Chicago.

Professional: Since graduating from law school, Vaska has worked at a Seattle law firm. Washington Law and Politics magazine has repeatedly named him to its annual list of the state’s “super lawyers.”

Political: No previous elected office

Key issues: Reducing liability claims against the state. Vaska said a typical family of four in Washington pays about $60 a year in “the litigation tax” due to claims and lawsuits against state government. “And it’s doubling every four years,” he said. The current state budget, he said, spends $170 million to pay claims and defend against new ones. To combat that, he said, taxpayers need “an experienced attorney, not a professional politician, in the attorney general’s office.” Vaska said he’d bring “a private-sector model of accountability” to the agency. “We need to make state government work better for citizens,” he said. His experience managing teams of lawyers in complex litigation, he said, is just what’s needed.

Money raised/spent: Raised more than $191,000 by Aug. 17; spent about $122,000.