Bob Hasegawa
Member of theWashington Senate from the11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 14, 2013 (2013-01-14)
Preceded by	Margarita Prentice
Member of theWashington House of Representatives from the11th district
In office January 10, 2005[1] – January 14, 2013
Preceded by	Velma Veloria
Succeeded by	Steve Bergquist
Personal details
Born	Robert Alan Hasegawa (1952-09-22)September 22, 1952 (age 73) Seattle,Washington, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Education	Shoreline Community College (AA) Antioch University Seattle (BA) University of Washington (MPA)
Signature
Website	Official

Robert Alan Hasegawa (born September 22, 1952) is an American labor leader and politician serving as a member of theWashington State Senate, representing the11th Legislative District since January 2013. Hasegawa is a lifelong resident ofSeattle'sBeacon Hill. He previously served in theWashington State House of Representatives, and is retired from theTeamsters Union where he was a member and union leader for over 32 years.

Bob Hasegawa grew up in Seattle, and lives in the Beacon Hill residence he grew up in. The son of Japanese immigrants, his parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents wereinterned by theFederal government of the United States duringWorld War II.^[2]

Graduating fromCleveland High School in 1970, Hasegawa studiedphysics at theUniversity of Washington. He went on to graduate fromAntioch University Seattle with dual concentrations in Labor Relations and Organizational and Social Change. Hasegawa also received a Master of Public Administration from theDaniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at theUniversity of Washington.^[3] He holds anassociate degree in labor studies fromShoreline Community College and studied information technology atSeattle Central Community College.

His daughter, Toshiko Grace Hasegawa, has served as an elected Commissioner on theSeattle Port Commission since 2022.^[4]

Hasegawa worked as a commercial truck driver, is a certified transport operator, and is a journey-level heavy construction equipment operator. He holds a Class A-Commercial Drivers License, with endorsements for hazardous material, doubles and triple trailer, tank cargo, non-air brake, and pilot car driving. He is alsoDHS andFAA certified forSeattle–Tacoma International Airport andBoeing Field.

Hasegawa is a longtime labor andsocial justice activist from Seattle. He was elected head of the largest Teamsters trucking local workers union in thePacific Northwest (Teamsters Local 174) for three terms (nine years), and was also a leader in the national Teamsters pro-union democracy reform movement, TDU (Teamsters for a Democratic Union). He was an executive board member of theKing County Labor Council, AFL-CIO representing the transportation trades. He was the firstAsian American to run for International Vice President of the Teamsters Union, in 2001. On June 30, 2001, "Bob Hasegawa Day" was proclaimed in honor of his labor activism by Seattle MayorPaul Schell and King County ExecutiveRon Sims. He received an award that was created in honor of the memory ofSilme Domingo and Gene Viernes, labor activists who were killed opposing the regime ofFerdinand Marcos.^[5]

Hasegawa serves on the national executive board of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance,AFL-CIO (APALA) as well as on the APALA Seattle Chapter Executive Board, and has served on numerous other boards of community-based organizations.

Hasegawa ran to succeed Representative Velma Veloria in the Washington State House of Representatives in 2004.^[6] He defeated a crowded field of Democrats in the primary election, and went on to win the general election with almost two-thirds of the vote.^[7]

In early 2012, Hasegawa announced that he was running to succeedMargarita Prentice in theWashington State Senate. Hasegawa eventually won the November 6 election, and took office in January 2013.^[8]

Hasegawa announced in 2017 that he wouldrun for mayor of Seattle.^[9] He received 8.4% of the vote in the primary election.

Hasegawa has advocated for universal public healthcare since running in his first election in 2004.^[10] In 2019 he introduced a legislative version of The Washington Health Trust, a statewide universal healthcare proposal originally introduced to the public byWhole Washington as a ballot initiative, into theWashington State Senate as SB.5222.^[11] In 2022 Hasegawa was the primary sponsor of SJM 8006 requesting a federal-state partnership towards the establishment of a universalsingle-payer healthcare both statewide in Washington and federally.^[12]

Homelessness and housing affordability are big issues in Seattle.^[13] Hasegawa has publicly stated his focus on increasing housing, investing in more public housing, and protecting renters.^[14] In the Senate, he has supported legislation designed to increase the amount of affordable rental housing.^[15] He co-sponsored legislation to increase funding for local homeless housing and assistance programs.^[16]

Hasegawa has long criticized Washington's tax structure.^[17] As a mayoral candidate, he has publicized his opposition to the sweet-beverage tax voted on by the Seattle City Council, calling the tax "regressive." While he voted for the Sound Transit 3 package, Hasegawa has criticized Sound Transit.^[14] He has publicly expressed concerns about the effect the increased taxation of ST3 has on low-income residents.^[18]

Hasegawa has long been an advocate forpublic banking. He has repeatedly introduced legislation to create a state bank in Washington (the "Washington Investment Trust") that would be modeled after theBank of North Dakota, which is the only current public bank in the United States.^[19][20] Proponents of public banking argue that such banks help stabilize economies, aid long-term growth, and help balance government budgets.^[21] He has publicly stated that it would reduce debt servicing costs, generate revenue, and increase the options the state and local jurisdictions have to finance infrastructure projects.^[22] A proposal for a municipal bank in Seattle is a component of Hasegawa's mayoral platform.^[14]

Hasegawa supported Initiative-1000, a measure to re-legalize affirmative action in Washington, in theState Senate.^[23]

• Bob Hasegawa onFacebook
• Washington State Legislature - Rep. Bob Hasegawaofficial WA House website
• BobHasegawa.com Mayoral Campaign Website
• Project Vote Smart - Representative Bob Hasegawa (WA) profile
• Follow the Money –Campaign Contributions and Contributors Bob Hasegawa

• 1952 births
• Living people
• American politicians of Japanese descent
• Trade unionists from Washington (state)
• Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives
• 21st-century members of the Washington State Legislature
• Politicians from Seattle
• Asian-American people in Washington (state) politics
• Evans School of Public Policy and Governance alumni
• Democratic Party Washington (state) state senators
• Asian-American state legislators in Washington (state)

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata