Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese-American governor as well as the first Asian American governor in the continental US During the Obama administration, Locke served as Secretary of Commerce from 2009 to 2011, and as Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014, where he was the first Chinese American to serve in the role.
33 Facts About Gary Locke
2.
Since 2020, Gary Locke has served as interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system.
3.
Gary Locke was born on January 21,1950, in Seattle, Washington, and spent his early years living in the Yesler Terrace public housing project.
4.
Gary Locke is a third-generation Chinese American with paternal ancestry from Jilong village, Taishan, Guangdong.
5.
James Gary Locke's wife, Julie, is from Hong Kong, which at that time was a British Crown Colony.
6.
Gary Locke's father was born on October 15,1917, in Taishan, and moved to the United States in 1931.
7.
Gary Locke died on January 5,2011, at the age of 93.
8.
Gary Locke did not learn to speak English until he was five years old and entered kindergarten.
9.
Gary Locke graduated with honors from Seattle's Franklin High School in 1968.
10.
Gary Locke achieved Eagle Scout rank and received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America.
11.
Gary Locke received his Juris Doctor from Boston University School of Law in 1975.
12.
Gary Locke has spoken of being inspired by Wing Luke, a Chinese American attorney and politician from Seattle who died in a plane crash in 1965.
13.
In 1982, Gary Locke was elected from a South Seattle district to the Washington House of Representatives, where he served as the chair of the Appropriations Committee.
14.
Eleven years later, in 1993, Gary Locke was elected King County's Executive, defeating incumbent liberal Republican Tim Hill.
15.
In 1996, Gary Locke won the Democratic primary and general election for governor of Washington, becoming the first Chinese American governor in United States history.
16.
Gary Locke faced criticism from fellow Democrats for embracing the Republican Party's "no-new-taxes" approach to Washington's budget woes during and after the 2001 economic turmoil.
17.
Gary Locke was mentioned as a potential contender for Secretary of Education or United States Trade Representative under a hypothetical Kerry administration.
18.
On December 4,2008, the Associated Press reported that Gary Locke was a potential candidate for Secretary of the Interior in then-President-elect Barack Obama's cabinet.
19.
On February 25,2009, Gary Locke was announced as Obama's choice for Secretary of Commerce, and his nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous consent on March 24.
20.
Gary Locke was the first Chinese-American Secretary of Commerce, and one of three Asian Americans in Obama's cabinet, joining Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
21.
Politico reported Gary Locke was a popular cabinet member among both businesses and the executive branch.
22.
At his first news conference after arrival in Beijing, Gary Locke pledged to promote bilateral cooperation and understanding between the two countries.
23.
In late November 2013, Gary Locke announced that he would step down as ambassador to spend more time with his family in Seattle.
24.
Gary Locke is not a shining star, but a simple and unadorned ambassador.
25.
On February 17,2016, Gary Locke joined the board of AMC Theatres.
26.
On May 31,2016, Gary Locke joined the board of the Seattle-based global health nonprofit PATH.
27.
Gary Locke has been a major proponent of affirmative action in Washington State.
28.
Gary Locke publicly endorsed I-1000 in the 2019 Washington State general election.
29.
In 2020, Gary Locke was featured in a Trump reelection ad, portraying him with Joe Biden and falsely suggesting he was an official of the Chinese Communist Party.
30.
Gary Locke was named the interim president of Bellevue College in May 2020, following the resignation of the college's president due to a controversial defacement of a campus mural.
31.
In March 2021, local media speculated that Gary Locke could run for Mayor of Seattle in the 2021 election.
32.
Gary Locke chose not to run, instead endorsing the campaign of Bruce Harrell, who was elected.
33.
On October 15,1994, Gary Locke married Mona Lee, a television reporter for the NBC affiliate KING 5 television in Seattle and former Miss Asian America 15 years his junior.