March Fong Eu Biography

March Fong Eu

Eu earned a B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.A. from Mills College, and a Ph.D. in education from Stanford University. She was elected to the California legislature in 1966 as a Democrat representing Oakland and Castro Valley. Eu served four terms and was elected California secretary of state in 1974, making her the first Asian American woman ever elected to a state constitutional office in the United States. She became famous for smashing a toilet bowl on the state Capitol's steps during her successful campaign to ban pay toilets, which she said discriminate against women. In 1994 Eu was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Micronesia. In 2002, Eu lost her bid to be the Democratic candidate for her old job as secretary of state. Her son, Matt Fong, a Republican, is a former state treasurer who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1998.