Former California State Treasurer Matt Fong Dies at 57

Posted on June 6, 2011 by John

Former California State Treasurer Matt Fong passed away last week at the age of 57 after a long fight with skin cancer. He was the first Republican Asian American ever to be elected to state wide office in California. Interestingly, his mother March Fong Eu (a Democrat) was the first Asian American woman to be elected to a state wide constitutional office in the United States – and served as California’s Secretary of State from 1975 to 1994. She was later appointed U.S. ambassador to Micronesia by President Clinton. Currently, I believe that State Controller John Chiang is the only Asian American to hold state wide elected office in California. My thoughts and prayers are with the Fong family.

About John

I'm a Taiwanese-American and was born & raised in Western Massachusetts, went to college in upstate New York, worked in Connecticut, went to grad school in North Carolina and then moved out to the Bay Area in 1999 and have been living here ever since - love the weather and almost everything about the area (except the high cost of housing...)
This entry was posted in (simple), Current Events, Politics. Bookmark the permalink.