Gary Locke
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Image:Garylocke.jpg Gary F. Locke (born January 21, 1950 in Seattle, Washington) was the Democratic governor of Washington (1997-2005), and the first Chinese-American governor in United States history. His Chinese name is 駱家輝 (Cantonese jyutping: Lok3 Gaa1 Fai1, Mandarin pinyin: Luò Jiāhuī).
As a third-generation Chinese American with paternal ancestry in Taishan, Guangdong Province, Locke is the second of five children of James (American-born) and Julie Locke (from Hong Kong). He attended Yale University and graduated with a degree in political science in 1972. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Boston University in 1975. Locke is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
In 1982, his South Seattle district elected him to the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Eleven years later, in 1993, he made history by becoming the first Asian-American to be elected King County's County Executive, defeating incumbent Tim Hill. In 1996, he won the primary and general elections for governor, becoming the first major Asian American head of government in North America. He easily won re-election in the 2000 governor's race.
Democrats criticized Locke for embracing the Republican Party's no-new-taxes approach to dealing with Washington's budget woes, during and after the 2001 recession. Among his spending-reduction proposals were laying-off thousands of state employees; reducing health coverage; freezing most state employees' pay; and, cutting funding for nursing homes and programs for the developmentally disabled. In his final budget, Locke suspended two voter-passed, pro-school initiatives while cutting state education funding. That same state budget, though, had record-high allocations for construction projects.
On the national stage, Democrats saw Gary Locke as a rising star and a possible vice-presidential pick. He was chosen to give the Democrat's response to George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address. Meanwhile back at home, former Washington Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge announced his plans to challenge Locke (supported by the state's political left) in the 2004 primary. Talmadge ultimately ended his campaign early, though, for health reasons.
In a surprise move, Locke announced in July 2003 that he would not seek a third term, saying, "Despite my deep love of our state, I want to devote more time to my family." It was also speculated that he may be preparing a presidential bid for 2008. He left office on January 12, 2005. If the disputed 2004 election between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi had not been resolved by then (and it barely was), the state constitution mandated that Locke would have had to stay in office. Upon leaving Washington's governorship, Locke joined the Seattle office of international-law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, in their China and governmental-relations practice groups.
In 1994, he married Mona Lee Locke (李矇 Li Meng), a Seattle television reporter whose father came from Shanghai and whose mother came from Hubei. They have three children, Emily Nicole, Dylan James, and Madeline Lee.
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