Gary Locke was elected Washington's 21st governor on Nov. 5, 1996, making him the first Chinese-American governor in U.S. history. On Nov. 7, 2000, Locke, a Democrat, was re-elected to his second term. As governor, he has worked to make Washington a better place to live, work and raise a family by:

· Making our schools the best in the nation.
· Strengthening our state's economy with an efficient, effective transportation system and business climate.
· Making state government more accessible and user-friendly while ensuring it delivers to taxpayers the services they most need at a reasonable and sustainable cost.

Locke attended Yale University, where he received his bachelor's degree in political science in 1972. After earning a law degree from Boston University in 1975, he worked for several years as a deputy prosecutor in King County, prosecuting people for crimes such as robbery and murder. In 1982, Locke was elected to the Washington State House of Representatives, where he served on the House Judiciary and Appropriations committees, with his final five years as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.

Prior to his term as governor, Locke was elected chief executive of King County in 1993 and took on all of the challenges facing Washington's most complex urban area.