Republicans facing off for attorney general slot
Washington’s attorney general’s office is the largest law firm in the state, and the battle to succeed outgoing Attorney General Christine Gregoire has drawn strong contenders on both the Republican and Democratic primary ballots.
On Thursday, The Spokesman-Review profiled the two Democratic candidates, Deborah Senn and Mark Sidran.
Today, we’re profiling the Republicans:
Rob McKenna, Republican
McKenna grew up on Army bases in Thailand, Germany, San Francisco and the Midwest. His father was a decorated officer who’d served in both the Korean and Vietnam wars. His mother was a volunteer for the Catholic Church.
McKenna became an Eagle Scout, then student body president at the University of Washington, and went to work doing business law at a Seattle law firm. In his spare time, he began working on political campaigns.
“Eventually there was an opening on the King County Council, and people said, ‘You know, we think you’d be good at this,’ ” said McKenna. “I thought it was a good chance to move from practicing law to making law.”
Similarly, the Republican rising star was recruited as a candidate for attorney general. When Gov. Gary Locke announced last July that he wouldn’t run for a third term, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced half an hour later that she would run for governor. Fifteen minutes after Gregoire spoke, McKenna said, former Sen. Slade Gorton called, urging McKenna to run for AG.
After three four-year terms on the council, McKenna’s primary opponent maintains that he’s more of a “professional politician” than a seasoned lawyer.
“We’re not just choosing a lawyer. We’re electing a leader,” is McKenna’s practiced response. He says he’s an experienced public manager and budget writer.
Like all the candidates, he says he’d strengthen consumer protection. But McKenna also says he’d make sure that state agencies follow the law and don’t exceed their regulatory reach – a plank that’s sure to be popular with other limited-government conservatives.
“I’m not a government-basher, but the job of elected officials is to make sure government is as efficient as possible, as fair as possible, and doesn’t do more than the public really needs,” he said.
Mike Vaska, Republican
Vaska grew up in Redmond, long before it was the hub of Microsoft’s universe. In the late 1960s, Redmond was a one-stoplight town struggling with the Boeing bust.
Vaska’s mother came from a Finnish community in Michigan. His father was Russian, wrenched from his family as a pre-teen by German troops and forced to work on a farm in Latvia. After World War II, he emigrated to America, became a draftsman and ran a fire-sprinkler business.
“He had a way of reminding us of the things that a lot of people take for granted,” Vaska said. After getting meat just once a month during the war, for example, Vaska’s father loved Denny’s Grand Slam breakfast, a meat-heavy breakfast that cost just $1.99. He taught his son to work hard and believe in himself.
That advice has held true. Vaska ignored a high school counselor’s advice not to waste his time applying to Stanford University. He got in, and got a full scholarship. He works for a large Seattle law firm, and has been repeatedly named one of the state’s “super-lawyers” by Washington Law and Politics magazine.
Still, Vaska is the underdog candidate in this race, with less name recognition and money than any of the other three. He’s hoping to win over voters by appealing to an issue close to their hearts: their wallets.
Claims and lawsuits against the state, he says, are costing Washington families about $60 a year in a “litigation tax.”
“This is costing the average person money,” he said, “and it’s rising fast.”
Washington needs a good top lawyer, he said, if it’s going to stop losing millions of dollars every year.
“The next attorney general really needs to be a front-line attorney general and really take ownership of that challenge,” he said.