Gov. Gary Locke (D) Elected 1996, 2d term up Jan. 2005
Born:	Jan. 21, 1950, Seattle
Home:	Olympia
Education:	Yale U., B.A. 1972, Boston U., J.D. 1975
Religion:	Protestant
Marital Status:	married (Mona)
Elected  Office:	WA House of Reps., 1982-93; King Cnty. Chief Exec., 1994-97.
Professional Career:	Dpty. King Cnty. Prosecuting atty., 1976-80; Staff atty., WA Senate, 1981; Legal Advisor, Seattle Human Rights Dept., 1981-82; Community Relations Mgr., U.S. West, 1988-92.
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Gary Locke, a Democrat, was elected governor of Washington in 1996 and 2000, the first governor of Chinese descent in American history. Locke grew up in Seattle, the son of immigrants from Guandong and Hong Kong; he lived six years in a housing project and worked in his father's restaurant and grocery store; his grandfather worked as a houseboy less than a mile from the state Capitol. Locke graduated from Yale (a beneficiary of affirmative action, he says) and Boston University Law School, returned to Seattle and worked as a deputy prosecutor and community relations manager for USWest. In 1982, at 32, he was elected to the state House from a liberal district in Seattle and rose to chair the Appropriations Committee; he supported an income tax (Washington still doesn't have one) and the 1993 tax increases that helped to make Democratic Governor Mike Lowry unpopular. That same year, Locke was elected King County Executive. His father was once shot at the family's grocery store, and Locke has been a supporter of tough penalties for crime and victim's rights legislation.

In February 1996 Lowry, a liberal and former congressman who was staggering under charges of sexual harassment, announced his retirement, and Locke decided to run for governor. It was a crowded field in what was then an all-party primary. Locke's main opponent, Seattle Mayor Norm Rice, shared the same base; they also faced former Congressman Jay Inslee from east of the mountains (he has since moved to the Seattle area and is now congressman from the 1st District). Locke won with 24% of the total vote to 18% for Rice and 10% for Inslee. The Republican field was more fragmented, and the nomination was won by former state Senator Ellen Craswell, who emphasized her religious faith. Altogether Democrats won 52% of votes, Republicans 48%, indicating a close race in November. Craswell emphasized what she called "God's plan" to cut state taxes 30% (later modified to 15%) and to privatize state universities, which evidently struck many voters as bizarre. Republican ads accused Locke of supporting prostitution (King County had a county prostitute counseling service). Locke, despite his liberal record in the legislature, took a moderate tack, abjuring tax increases and calling for more spending on education, with higher standards and accountability. Although some polls showed a close race, Locke won 58%-42%, with a 62%-38% lead in the Seattle area; Craswell just barely carried the east.

Locke cultivated an image of moderation and compromise even as he vetoed more bills than any previous governor in his first months. But he and the legislature operate under the constraints of Initiative 601, passed in 1993, which limits spending increases to a formula based on population and inflation. Locke vetoed some changes in welfare reform but approved a business tax cut. He vetoed a bill banning gay marriage in February 1998; that was overridden in five hours as Democrats scampered to keep the issue off the November 1998 ballot. Left on was Referendum 49, a proposal to cut the auto tax and dedicate the revenue, plus money from a huge bond issue, into a fund devoted to transportation; that passed 57%-43%.

In 1998 Democrats won a 27-22 margin in the Senate and a 49-49 tie in the House, which left Locke to stick to the middle ground. The evenly divided House, with co-speakers and co-chairmen of committees, in time worked out compromises on major state issues--regulating HMOs and changing unemployment insurance. In November 1999 voters passed Initiative 695, eliminating the 2.2% car tab tax, which had provided 7.5% of state revenue and was replaced by a $30 annual fee; it also provided that voters would have to approve any new state or local tax increase or fee. It was opposed by business groups, unions and Locke, but a volunteer campaign led by Mukilteo wristwatch salesman Tim Eyman prevailed and voters approved it by a 56%-44% margin. Locke offered health benefits for the same-sex partners of state employees and offered senior citizens a chance to buy prescription drugs through the state employees' health plan. His Republican opponent in 2000 was radio talk show host John Carlson, a strong backer of the 1993 initiative to limit spending increases to inflation and population increase and the 1998 initiatives to end racial quotas and preferences. Carlson called for lower taxes, more lanes on the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge and a new bridge to Portland to clear up traffic and more teachers. In August Republicans ran ads criticizing Locke for vetoing a bill to bring methamphetamine crimes under the three-strikes law, and for the death of a three-year-old killed by her mother after state social workers removed her from foster home and gave the mother custody. But voters were in a consensus-minded, pro-incumbent mood, and Locke won 58%-40% margin. He carried King County 66%-32% and the rest of western Washington by 56%-42%; he even carried eastern Washington 51%-47%, thanks to a large margin in Spokane County.

Locke had convened Competitive Council that identified transportation as the state's leading problem: in the boom of the late 1990s Seattle's freeways were clogged and the bridges over Lake Washington were deteriorating. Locke responded by proposing a 9-cent increase in the gas tax to yield $8.5 billion for transportation. In July 2001 the legislature rejected this; Republicans would not support it unless it was put before the voters as a referendum. Locke tried again in January 2002, and this time the legislature, in which the Democrats had the narrowest of majorities, approved it with a November referendum. With a budget shortfall looming, Locke put in a hiring and equipment freeze and laid off some employees. With support from business and unions and from former Republican Senator Slade Gorton, Locke campaigned hard for the transportation referendum. But it lost 62%-38% in November; only in San Juan County, dependent on state ferries, did voters approve. Voters gave Republicans a 25-24 majority in the state Senate and Democrats a 52-46 majority in the state House.

In December 2002 Locke became chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and in January 2003 he delivered the Democratic response to George W. Bush's State of the Union address. Locke told his family's story and said that Americans were "still far too vulnerable" to terrorism and that Bush's tax cuts were "upside down economics." At home the state faced a $2 billion shortfall in the next budget. In constructing his budget, Locke ranked spending according to 10 Priorities of Government. That led him to call for suspending two initiatives passed in 2000, providing for a teacher pay increase and class size reduction, and for removing 60,000 of the 125,000 people on the state's Basic Health Plan, insurance for those who don't qualify for Medicaid. He flatly ruled out major tax increases. He called for modification of the state's high school graduation requirements (many students were failing tests) and for cleanup efforts in Puget Sound. Many Democrats angrily denounced Locke's education and health care proposals, but Republicans seemed to favor them and John Carlson praised them warmly. By the end of the regular session in April 2003, the legislature had not reached agreement on class size reduction, teacher pay or the Basic Health Plan; they made no changes to the graduation requirements. In May, Locke signed a $4.2 billion transportation plan funded by a 5-cent gas tax.

In early 2003 Locke said he had not decided whether to run for a third term in 2004. His job approval rating in January 2003 was only 30%, down from 67% in summer 1998. If he does run, he seems likely to have primary opposition. Former state senator and state Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge announced he was running and said, "Everywhere I go, people say the same thing--the Democratic party has no policies and no soul. We seem tired, distracted and aimless." One potentially strong Republican candidate drew mention: John Stanton, founder of Western Wireless and the co-owner of the Seattle Mariners and the Supersonics.

Update: September 23, 2003
On July 21, 2003, Locke announced he will not seek reelection to a third term.

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P.O. Box 40002, Olympia 98504, 360-902-4111; Fax: 360-753-4110; Web: www.governor.wa.gov.

Election Results (More Info)
	Candidate	Total Votes	Percent
2000 general	Gary Locke (D)	1,441,973	58%
	John Eric Carlson (R)	980,060	40%
	Other	47,819	2%
2000 primary	Gary Locke (D)	701,929	54%
	John Eric Carlson (R)	446,142	35%
	Harold Hochstatter (R)	93,467	7%
	Other	50,764	4%
1996 general	Gary Locke (D)	1,296,492	58%
	Ellen Craswell (R)	940,538	42%