Dino Rossi

Dino John Rossi (born October 15, 1959) is an American businessman and politician who served as a Washington State senator thrice, from 1997 to 2003, in 2012, and again from 2016 to 2017. A Republican, he is a former chair of the Washington State Special Olympics.

Originally from Seattle, Rossi graduated from Seattle University and later pursued a career in commercial real estate. He ran for Governor of Washington in 2004, losing to Democrat Christine Gregoire by just 129 votes in the closest gubernatorial election in Washington state history. Four years later, in 2008, he contested the office a second time, losing to Gregoire by more than six points. He was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate in 2010, losing to incumbent Democrat Patty Murray by 4.72%.

Rossi returned to the Washington State Senate, being appointed in 2012 and again from 2016 to 2017. He was the runner-up for the United States House of Representatives for the eighth congressional district in 2018, losing to Democrat Kim Schrier by 4.8%.

Rossi was the youngest of seven children brought up by his mother Eve, a beautician of Irish and Tlingit ancestry, and his father John Rossi, an Italian-American Seattle Public Schools teacher at Viewlands Elementary in North Seattle. Rossi was raised in Mountlake Terrace, graduated from Woodway High School in Edmonds, and earned a bachelor's degree in business management from Seattle University in 1982.

After college, Rossi began in the commercial real estate business, working for Melvin G. Heide at Capretto & Clark. Rossi followed Heide to two more firms as Heide was being investigated for fraud and false statements; Heide later pleaded guilty. Rossi later became a commercial real estate salesman, managing and owning real estate. Rossi was formerly an owner of the Everett Aquasox minor league baseball team. He is co-founder of the Bellevue, Washington-based Eastside Commercial Bank.

In 1992, Rossi ran for a Washington State Senate seat in a district representing suburbs east of Seattle, in the Cascade foothills. After winning a divisive Republican Party primary, he lost the general election. In 1996, Rossi ran again for the state senate and was elected.

Rossi served in the Washington State Senate from 1997 until December 2003, when he resigned to spend full-time running for the governorship. During his time as a senator, he gained a reputation for being a political consensus builder.

When the Senate Republicans gained the majority in 2002, Rossi became chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that writes the state's two year operating budget. As Ways and Means chairman, Rossi helped to carry out Democratic governor Gary Locke's plans to close a $2.7 billion budget deficit. The budget chief for Democratic governor Gary Locke said of Rossi in 2003, "The really good legislators move from one side to the other really effortlessly, and I think Dino did that." The Republican modifications to Locke's budget plan which Rossi oversaw included reaching a balanced budget by cutting the number of children eligible for Medicaid, cutting prenatal care for undocumented immigrants, cutting raises for state employees and increased tuition at colleges and universities. Said former governor Locke, “For years, I have simply laughed when Dino Rossi took credit for devising a no-tax-increase budget for the 2003-2005 cycle while protecting vulnerable populations."