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Gary Faye Locke (駱家輝; born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and the current United States Ambassador to China.
Locke was the 21st Governor of Washington, serving from 1997 to 2005. He was the first governor of a state in the Continental United States of Asian descent, and is the only Chinese American ever to serve as a governor.[1] He was then appointed by President Barack Obama as United States Secretary of Commerce.
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Locke was born on January 21, 1950, in Seattle, Washington. A third-generation American with paternal ancestry from Taishan, Guangdong, China, Locke is the second of five children of James Locke, who served as a staff sergeant in the United States Army's Fifth Armored Division during World War II,[2] and his wife Julie, who is from Hong Kong, which at that time was a British crown colony of the United Kingdom. His parents gave him the Chinese name of 駱家輝, (pronounced Lok Gaa-Fai in Cantonese). He did not learn to speak English until he was five years old and entered school.[3]
Locke graduated with honors from Seattle’s Franklin High School in 1968. He achieved Eagle Scout and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.[3][4]
Through a combination of part-time jobs, financial aid and scholarships, Locke attended Yale University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science in 1972.[5] He later received his Juris Doctor from the Boston University School of Law in 1975.
On October 15, 1994, he married Mona Lee, a television reporter for the NBC affiliate KING 5 television in Seattle and former Miss Asian America. She is also of Chinese ancestry, her father coming from Shanghai and her mother from Hubei Province. The Lockes have three children: Emily Nicole, born in March 1997, Dylan James, born in March 1999 and Madeline Lee, born in November 2004.[6]
In 1982, Locke's South Seattle district elected him to the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as chairman of the Appropriations Committee. Eleven years later, Locke made history by becoming the first Chinese American to be elected King County's County Executive, defeating Tim Hill. In 1996, he won the primary and general elections for governor, becoming the first Chinese American governor in United States history. However, his political committee was fined $2,500 by regulators in 1997 after admitting to state campaign finance law violations during his successful campaign.[7] Locke 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 economic turmoil. 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 and cut state education funding.
Supported by the state's political left, former Washington Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge announced his plans to challenge Locke in the 2004 Democratic primary. Talmadge ended his campaign early for health reasons.
On the national stage, Democrats saw Gary Locke as a possible vice-presidential choice. In 1997, Locke was a guest at that year's State of the Union.[8]
He was chosen to give his party's response to George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address.[9] In a surprise move, Locke announced in July 2003 that he would not seek a third term,[10] saying, "Despite my deep love of our state, I want to devote more time to my family."[10]
Susan Paynter, a columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, suggested that racist slurs, insults, and threats that Locke and his family received, especially the large number which came after his rebuttal to George W. Bush's 2003 State of the Union address, played a role in Locke's decision to leave office after two terms.[11] The governor's office received hundreds of threatening letters and e-mails; others threatened to kill his children.[11]
Locke left office on January 12, 2005. If the disputed 2004 election between Christine Gregoire and Dino Rossi had not been resolved by then, Locke would, under Washington's constitution, have remained in office until a successor qualified.[12]
After leaving office, Locke joined the Seattle office of international law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, in their China and governmental-relations practice groups. During the leadup to the 2008 Democratic presidential primary, Governor Locke signed on as Washington co-chairman of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's bid for president.[13]
On December 4, 2008, the Associated Press reported that Locke was a potential candidate for Secretary of the Interior in then-President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet. Eventually, then-Colorado Senator, Ken Salazar, was nominated for that position instead.
On February 25, 2009, Locke was announced as President Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Commerce.[7] His nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on March 24, 2009.[14] Locke was sworn in March 26, 2009, by District judge Richard A. Jones.[15] He was sworn in by President Obama on May 1, 2009. He is the first Chinese American Secretary of Commerce, and one of three Asian Americans in Obama's cabinet, joining Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the most of any administration. Politico has reported Locke has been a popular cabinet member among both business and the executive branch.[16]
Following the resignation of Jon Huntsman, Jr., Locke was nominated by President Obama to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the People's Republic of China.[17] The Senate confirmed him by unanimous consent on July 27, 2011.[18] On August 1, 2011, Locke resigned as Commerce Secretary and took up his new post.[19] A photo of Locke carrying his own backpack and ordering his own coffee at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport went viral on the Sina Weibo social network, where he was praised by many Chinese for his informal manner.[20][21]
On his first news conference after arrival in Beijing, Locke pledged to promote bilateral cooperation and understanding between the two countries.[22]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tim Hill |
King County Executive 1994–1997 |
Succeeded by Ron Sims |
| Preceded by Mike Lowry |
Governor of Washington 1997–2005 |
Succeeded by Christine Gregoire |
| Preceded by Carlos Gutierrez |
United States Secretary of Commerce Served under: Barack Obama 2009–2011 |
Succeeded by Rebecca Blank Acting |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Jon Huntsman, Jr. |
United States Ambassador to China 2011–present |
Incumbent |
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