Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician. Locke was the United States ambassador to China from 2011 until 2014. He was the 21st Governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005 and served in the Obama administration as United States Secretary of Commerce from 2009 to 2011.Locke is the first governor in the continental United States of Asian descent, and is the only Chinese American ever to serve as a governor of any state.