Connie Chan’s congressional campaign announced Friday that Gary Locke — a former U.S. commerce secretary, ambassador to China and Washington State governor — endorsed Chan in the race to succeed Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi in Congress.
Locke’s endorsement was announced alongside that of Connecticut attorney general William Tong. Locke was the nation’s first Chinese American governor, and Tong its first Chinese American elected attorney general.
Locke, or 駱家輝, is not a local figure but has been a familiar name for Chinese Americans for years, especially in the early 2010s when he represented the United States to China.
He was the first Chinese American to serve as U.S. ambassador to China, and his appointment signaled a new era in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
President Barack Obama, who appointed Locke, emphasized Locke’s family history in his nomination speech in 2011.
“More than 100 years ago, Gary’s grandfather left China on a steamship bound for America, where he worked as a domestic servant in Washington State. A century later, his grandson will return to China as America’s top diplomat,” Obama said.
“My family’s story taught me that the American Dream depends on each generation opening doors for the next. Connie Chan understands that responsibility,” Locke said in a statement. “She’ll bring that same determination to Congress: lowering costs, expanding opportunity and ensuring that families who work hard can get ahead.”
Tong, current attorney general of Connecticut, said, “I’m proud to endorse Connie Chan for Congress. San Francisco can count on her to stand her ground.”
In the last stretch before Election Day, both Chan and state Sen. Scott Wiener are working hard to court Chinese American voters, a group that may very well decide the race for Congress. San Francisco’s population is nearly a quarter Chinese.
Wiener held a Chinese-language media round table on Monday, bringing more media coverage about him in the monolingual Chinese-speaking community, whose support is often not captured accurately in polls.
His team has made 22,000 calls to the 21,146 voters in the city who have requested Chinese ballots as of Oct. 22, according to Todd David, one of Wiener’s consultants.
Chan, who may become San Francisco’s first Chinese American member of Congress, appeared in a Chinese-language media interview this week, saying “If the Chinese community is willing to come out and vote, we will win.”
She also followed Chinese tradition to pay respect at a traditional Chinatown temple, the Kong Chow Temple, on Thursday. Earlier today, she joined some 200 Chinese voters and community leaders for a get-out-of-the-vote march through Chinatown.