Biography

Bob Hasegawa is a lifelong resident of the 11th Legislative District. He grew up on Beacon Hill in Seattle and graduated from Cleveland High School. He has also lived in the Riverton Heights area of Tukwila and the Maplewood Heights area of Renton.

He is a longtime labor and social justice activist. He led many workers struggles, winning top wages and benefits for working families and retirees, and has collaborated in many social justice struggles to protect and advance civil rights, democracy, the environment and our constitutional rights.

For 32 years, Bob was a member of the Teamsters Union, where he rose through the ranks to become the elected leader of the largest Teamster trucking industry and general workers local union in the Pacific Northwest (Teamsters Local 174) for three terms (nine years) and was also a leader in Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU), a national Teamsters pro-union democracy reform movement. He continues to maintain his union membership in the IUOE as a journey level operating engineer.

As a union/community organizer, Bob has long sought to build solidarity and bridges between social justice organizations, particularly those serving the labor, environmental, religious and communities of color. He was a founding member and served on the local and national executive boards of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance-AFL-CIO (APALA), the ML King County Labor Council, Washington State Labor Council, and boards of other community-based organizations.

Bob is the Chair of the Senate Majority Caucus (Democratic). His Senate standing committee assignments are: Rules; Ways & Means; State Government and Elections; and Business, Financial Services & Trade (vice chair).

Bob is also a member of several joint legislative committees: Legislative Committee on Economic Development and International Relations (LCEDIR); Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC); Joint Administrative Rules Review Committee (JARRC); Capital Projects Advisory Review Board (CPARB); the Washington-Hyogo Friendship Council; Senate Democratic Caucus’ Delegate to the Pacific NW Economic Region (PNWER); Educational Opportunity Gap Oversight & Accountability Committee; Joint Legislative-Executive Overtime Oversight Task Force.

Bob believes in lifelong learning. After graduating high school, he went on to the University of Washington where he studied physics. He holds an AA degree in labor studies from Shoreline Community College, studied information technology at Seattle Central Community College, and is a seasoned professional commercial truck driver, certified transit operator, and journey-level operating engineer (heavy construction equipment operator). He later graduated from Antioch University Seattle with dual areas of concentration in labor relations and organizational and social change. Bob also holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the Dan Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

Since he began representing the 11th Legislative District in 2005, first in the House of Representatives through 2012 and now in the Senate, Bob’s priorities have always centered on serving as a voice for working families, small businesses and disenfranchised communities, and fighting for economic and social justice.

 

Updated October 2023