Biography:

Dino Rossi is a third-generation American and Washingtonian. His paternal grandfather immigrated to America from Italy at the turn of the 20th century and worked first as a coal miner in Black Diamond, then worked building streets in the growing city of Seattle.

Rossi's father was a Seattle public school teacher and met Rossi's mother, who was half Irish and half Tlingit Alaskan Native, after she moved to Seattle to escape a bad marriage.

Rossi is one of seven children. He worked his way through college with jobs in construction and as a janitor at the Space Needle in Seattle, and graduated with a degree in business in 1982.

He built a career in commercial real estate and co-founded the Eastside Commercial Bank. In 1992 he ran for the state legislature and lost, and in 1996 he ran again and won. He was re-elected in 2000 and in 2003 he served as chairman of the state senate's budget committee at a time when the state faced a its largest-ever budget shortfall.

Rossi and his wife, Terry, have four children.

Past Campaigns:

Dino Rossi first ran for the state senate in 1992 and lost. He ran again in 1996 and won with 53 percent of the vote. His district represents east King County, which includes both Seattle suburbs and rural areas. He won re-election in 2000 with 70 percent of the vote.

Though he only served in the state senate for seven years he rose quickly through the ranks to become budget chairman. State GOP leaders, and even President Bush, encouraged Rossi to run for governor but it took a while for him to decide. Before Rossi jumped in the race, the state party asked and was turned down by three other prominent Republicans. Rossi stepped down from his senate seat to run for governor.

Election Information by State: Select a State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware DC Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Mass. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hamp. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming -------------------------   Candidate Search Find candidate running for federal and state offices. Candidate Last Name State (Optional) All Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware DC Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Mass. Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hamp. New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming ------------------------- Office Type (Optional) All President U.S. Senate U.S. House Governor State Office Local Office