Candidate for
Secretary of State; State of California; Democratic Party

MARCH FONG EU--- A CAREER OF BREAKING BARRIERS

When March Fong Eu became the first American of Asian heritage and first woman to serve on the Alameda County Board of Education, it was just the beginning of an impressive list of "firsts" in a distinguished career of public service that continues to flourish.

A third-generation Californian born in the small Central Valley community of Oakdale, Dr. Eu has always been the type of person who wanted to change the world -- to break down barriers, open pathways to new opportunities, and ensure fair treatment for all. Understanding that education was the key to her goals, she received a Bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, a Master's degree from Mills College, and a Doctorate of Education from Stanford University. She taught and served as an educational consultant in the Oakland Public Schools, Alameda and Santa Clara County schools, at Mills College, and was a division chair at the University of California at San Francisco.

After serving three terms with the Alameda County Board of Education -- the last as its first woman president -- she won election to represent Oakland and parts of Castro Valley in the California State Assembly, becoming the first Asian-American woman to serve in that body and one of only three women serving in the Legislature. During her tenure in the Assembly, she worked tirelessly on behalf of consumers, to preserve the environment, and to protect the rights of women. She served on and often chaired a variety of committees, amassing a record of more than 400 bills that reflect her wide range of interest and expertise.

In 1974, she was elected by a record-setting three million votes as California's first woman Secretary of State and first Asian-American in statewide office. As Secretary of State, she dedicated her efforts to making the services of her office readily available by streamlining and automating procedures in the business filings programs, to eliminating abuse of power by some notaries, to the fair and cost-efficient implementation of the Political Reform Act of 1974 and the federal Voting Rights Act as amended in 1975.

A signal accomplishment of her tenure was getting legislative approval and funding to build the Secretary of State complex at Archives Plaza in downtown Sacramento to house, for the first time in decades, all the divisions of the office in a single location and provide a safe, modern, state-of-the-art home for California's vast archival record. Long a supporter of the State Archives, Dr. Eu expanded its programs to include a museum with exhibits drawn from the collection.

Her accomplishments in the field of elections are legion. She implemented voter registration by mail, candidate statements in the state ballot pamphlet, made the mail-ballot available to all who want to use it, and pioneered reporting of election results on the Internet. She expanded voter outreach efforts, taking the lead to forge partnerships between government and the private sector to create programs to encourage citizens to register and to vote. She worked with the Legislature and the elections community to reduce the physical and administrative barriers to participation in the electoral process at all levels and to ensure equal access to voting opportunities to all Californians. In her continuing efforts to ensure the integrity of elections in the Golden State, she hired the first-ever elections investigator to investigate allegations of elections fraud.

In addition to the many duties of her office, she vigorously promoted the export of California products and services abroad, sponsoring the creation of the California State World Trade Commission and serving as its first Chair. She continues actively to promote commercial interests, recognizing that increasing exports from California creates more jobs for Californians.

In 1994, Dr. Eu accepted President Clinton's appointment as the United States Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia where she worked to promote cultural understanding, a pursuit to which she has dedicated much of her public life. She returned to California in 1996 where she has continued her efforts to promote California trade, encourage participation in the political process and fight for equal opportunity for all.

An accomplished artist, she makes her home in Sacramento.

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