Gary Locke: A Corporate Champion at Commerce

President Barack Obama's nomination of former Gov. Gary Locke as U.S. Secretary of Commerce drew wide praise last month from government and industry officials. Senate Commerce chair Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Locke was a "lifelong advocate and champion for American productivity," Boeing cited his "balanced approach to business issues," and Microsoft cheered him as an "enthusiastic advocate" for innovation.

If confirmed as commerce secretary, Locke will become the government's voice of business, promoting trade, investment, and new jobs, along with overseeing the NOAA and the census and patent offices. But will Locke's selection fit voters' concept of the "change" Obama promised in his presidential campaign?

"The interesting tradition about Commerce," says Patrick Dobel, a professor at the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs, "is that, unlike other agencies, the secretary has always been expected to be on the side of business." Locke's track record, says Dobel, seems to match up with that conventional role: friend to corporate America.

As King County Executive and then two-term governor until 2005, Locke at times opened the state's pocketbook to corporations, most memorably helping billionaire Seattle Seahawks owner Paul Allen build a publicly financed football stadium and engineering a $3.2 billion tax break for Boeing to assemble its new 787 jetliner in Everett. Locke also backed a steep reduction in unemployment and injured-worker benefits, particularly those suffering hearing loss, calling it "reform" rather than the coup it was for big business. Since leaving office, Locke has quietly worked in the private sector as an attorney and consultant with Davis Wright Tremaine, a Seattle law and consulting firm. There he has represented some of the same corporations he helped as governor, including Microsoft.

Now he's destined to assist them again as a federal public official—that is, if he doesn't drop out. Locke is Obama's third Commerce nominee in two months. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson had to withdraw in January after word leaked of an ongoing federal investigation involving his political donors, and the subsequent nominee, Republican Sen. Judd Gregg, withdrew in February due to philosophical differences with the president.

"I'm sure it's not lost on anyone that we've tried this a couple of times," Obama said during Locke's Feb. 25 introduction in Washington, D.C. "But I'm a big believer in keeping at something until you get it right. And Gary is the right man for this job."

Already awaiting Locke, if seated, is a lingering dispute involving Boeing. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers last year asked the Commerce Department to suspend a new program allowing Chinese companies access to sensitive U.S. aerospace technology. The union thinks national security and U.S. jobs are both at risk. In a letter to Commerce, Tom Buffenbarger, international president of the 730,000-member union, said the program "will involve work on the Boeing 787 program that could have been performed by U.S. workers. We find it very difficult to believe that your actions are good for U.S. workers or the U.S. economy."

"We had a good working relationship with Locke as governor," Buffenbarger adds. "But we'll want to sit down with him, as I'm sure Boeing will, if he's confirmed. As long as China continues to manipulate currency while the U.S. looks the other way, we won't have a level playing field for American workers."

Microsoft will likely be on Secretary Locke's agenda as well. Co-founder Bill Gates is a longtime supporter of Locke, having hosted one of his first gubernatorial campaign fundraisers in 1999. As governor, Locke supported tax breaks and signed legislation sought by the company, including tougher laws against software piracy. Today, Microsoft is seeking a similar strengthening of piracy laws in China, one of its biggest markets.

China has long been a forte of Locke, the first Chinese-American U.S. governor. He made repeated trade visits to China during his two gubernatorial terms, earning high marks from a government that values personal relationships, and has since revisited the country as a private consultant with Davis Wright Tremaine. For the past four years, Locke has co-chaired the Seattle firm's China Practice division, and among those Davis Wright has privately represented in China is Microsoft.

Todd Tucker of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch group in D.C. says they've followed Locke's career and are taking a cautious approach. "I think, especially given his [pro–free trade] record on NAFTA, China trade, and WTO demonstrations [Locke mobilized the National Guard against protestors], all fair-trade advocates will be watching him particularly closely. Obama made a series of commitments to overhaul current trade policies. We're going to be looking for actual results."

The UW's Dobel thinks the 59-year-old Locke can likely skirt any ethical questions arising from his past political and personal affiliations with U.S. corporations. He'll have to fully disclose any financial involvement, and reach an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics on which paths to take if conflicts arise.

"He can recuse himself from the decision-making process," says Dobel, "which is a common occurrence in D.C." Locke, who holds stock in a number of U.S. corporations, including Starbucks and Microsoft, might have to divest those holdings or put them in trust, adds Dobel.