State Attorney General McKenna Announces 2012 Bid for Governor

State Attorney General Rob McKenna officially announced a bid for governor in 2012.

McKenna made his announcement before a crowd of Republican Party supporters in the theater of Sammamish High School, his alma mater.

McKenna, a Bellevue resident, has been in public office since he was first elected in 1995 to Metropolitan King County Council. He was elected to be state Attorney General in 2004.

Washington State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur said that many feel that McKenna is the Republican Party's best chance at the governor's office in decades. The last Republican governor of Washington was John Spellman, who left office in 1985.

Washington State Republican Party chairman Kirby Wilbur said that McKenna's announcement narrows the Republican 2012 gubernatorial field.

"There's not many who have the credibility and can stand up to challenge him in the Republican Party," Wilbur said. "It's not impossible, but it would be hard."

Wilbur said that there have been rumors that Congressman Dave Reichert might be interested in a run for governor, but "I think he's happy in Congress."

Governor Christine Gregoire, a democrat, has not yet declared whether she will run for a third term. U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, a Bainbridge Island democrat, whose 1st Congressional District represents Woodinville in Congress, is expected to run if Gregoire decides not to seek reelection.

The Washington State Democrats, led by Chairman Dwight Pelz, a former King County Councilman who served with McKenna on the Council, took the opportunity of McKenna's announcement to rally democrats for fundraising purposes.

"This is not much of a surprise," Pelz wrote to the state Democratic Party's e-mail list subscribers. "McKenna's clever use of public monies to promote his personal agenda and ambitions started the day he became our Attorney General. "

"Instead of protecting working families from price-gouging oil companies and greedy bankers, McKenna turned his office into a feel-good press release shop," Pelz continued. "Rob McKenna… the guy who is suppose to protect us from fraud, is trying to con us into believing that he is a 'moderate' Republican."

McKenna also joined a lawsuit with other state attorneys general to stop the ObamaCare health care plan from being implemented.