Bob Ferguson

Robert Watson Ferguson (born February 23, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 18th attorney general of Washington.

Ferguson was born in Seattle in 1965, the son of Murray and Betty (Hausmann) Ferguson.

He graduated from Bishop Blanchet High School in 1983 and then attended the University of Washington, where he was elected Student Body President.

After college, Ferguson joined Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest and directed an emergency services office for a year.

Ferguson earned a Juris Doctor from the New York University School of Law.

During law school, he received a grant to provide legal assistance to the Yaqui tribe in Guadalupe, Arizona.

Ferguson lived in Guadalupe for a time, assisting community members on a wide range of legal matters.

After graduating from law school, Ferguson began his legal career in Spokane, where he served as a law clerk for Chief Judge William Fremming Nielsen of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, who was appointed by George H. W. Bush.

He then clerked for Judge Myron H. Bright of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit in the Midwest, who was appointed by Lyndon Johnson.

After his clerkship, Ferguson returned to Seattle and joined Preston Gates & Ellis (now K&L Gates) as a litigator, a Washington Special Assistant Attorney General law firm, where he represented individuals, businesses, local governments, and Washington corporations.

As an attorney, Ferguson worked with the legal team that successfully defended taxpayers from paying for cost overruns associated with Safeco Field construction.

He was part of the legal team that successfully challenged the constitutionality of Tim Eyman's initiatives.

Ferguson worked on cases involving software piracy and successfully sued companies that stole intellectual property from Washington companies.

Ferguson also donated hundreds of hours of free legal advice to non-profit organizations.

For example, he assisted Kruckeberg Botanic Garden Foundation as legal counsel to turn a six-acre garden into a public park in Shoreline.

After four years at Preston Gates & Ellis, Ferguson decided to run for the King County Council.

Ferguson was first elected to the King County Council in 2003 by defeating Cynthia Sullivan, a 20-year veteran of the Council.

Ferguson managed to outpoll Sullivan by about 500 votes.

At the time, the council was elected on a partisan basis.

Ferguson faced no general election opponent in the heavily Democratic district.

During his campaign to unseat Sullivan, Ferguson knocked on 22,000 doors in the district.

As a result of the council reduction, redistricting placed Ferguson in the same district as another Democratic County Councilmember, Carolyn Edmonds of Shoreline.

Ferguson narrowly defeated Edmonds.

He went on to defeat Republican challenger Steven Pyeatt in the general election, winning approximately 74% of the vote.

Before being elected attorney general, Ferguson served on the King County Council, where he represented Council District 1, which includes northeast Seattle, Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Bothell, Kirkland, and part of Woodinville.

During his time on the Council, Ferguson served as Chair of the Regional Policy and Law, Justice and Human Services Committees and twice chaired of the Council's Law and Justice Committee.

In 2005, he co-sponsored legislation to place a ballot measure before the voters of King County to generate revenue to improve health services for veterans and military personnel.

County residents approved the measure.

In 2011, King County voters renewed the Veterans and Human Services Levy.

When King County Executive's office proposed spending $6.8 million for new furniture for the new County office building, Ferguson pushed the County to buy used furniture instead, saving taxpayers more than $1 million.

Ferguson led the effort to raise $50 million annually to assist those suffering from mental illness and chemical dependency.

He received the Booth Gardner Mental Health Champion award from Sound Mental Health in 2011.

Ferguson successfully fought for $5 million to fund public health clinics in Northgate and Bothell that were threatened with closure.

Ferguson served on the Youth Justice Coordinating Council on Gangs.

He pushed for civilian oversight of the King County Sheriff's office.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected in 2012 and re-elected in 2016 and 2020.

Prior to serving as attorney general, Ferguson was a member of the King County Council.

In 2017, Ferguson was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.

Ferguson is a candidate in the 2024 Washington gubernatorial election.

He is a fourth-generation Washingtonian, whose great-grandparents homesteaded on the Skagit River in the 19th century, near what is now Marblemount.