Hawaii
Senator Mazie Hirono Democrat Mazie Hirono turned back a strong challenge from former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle to keep the Senate seat in her party s hands in 2012. She succeeded Sen. Daniel Akaka, who retired after serving three full terms. As in her other campaigns, Hirono made much of her early-life hardships, which she says inform her liberal politics. She was born in Fukushima, Japan, and immigrated to Hawaii just before her eighth birthday with her mother, who fled an abusive husband. She mastered English in public schools and became a naturalized citizen in 1959, the year that Hawaii became a state. After graduating from the University of Hawaii, Hirono got involved in politics by working on state House campaigns. She then earned a law degree from Georgetown University and worked in the Hawaii attorney general s office. She ran for the state House in 1980 and won, holding the seat for 14 years. In 1994, she was elected to the first of two terms as lieutenant governor. Hirono formed a political action committee to assist state-level Democratic women supporting abortion rights. She got her chance to become an elected official again in 2006, and became the first Asian immigrant woman to serve in Congress. When Akaka announced his retirement, Hirono was considered the early Democratic favorite. Against Republican candidate Lingle, Hirono opened a double-digit lead by early October and went on to win 63% to 37%. Currently: Senator, HI Education: U. of HI, B.A., 1970; Georgetown U., J.D., 1978 Religion: Buddhism Family: Married (Leighton), 1 stepchild Contact: (202) 224-6361 730 Hart Senate Office Washington, DC 20510 Supports a woman s right to choose Supports earmarking projects that benefit Hawaii Supports veterans transition programs Supports clean energy Senate Committee on Armed Services Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Senate Committee on the Judiciary 2012 General Mazie Hirono (D) Votes: 269,489 Percent: 62.6% Linda Lingle (R) Votes: 160,994 Percent: 37.4% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.
Senator Brian Schatz Democrat Brian Schatz, the Senate s second-youngest member behind Connecticut s Chris Murphy, was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie on Dec. 26, 2012 to fill the unexpired term of Democrat Daniel Inouye, who died nine days earlier. He then won reelection to a full term in 2014. An ardent liberal, Schatz had been Hawaii s lieutenant governor, Democratic Party chair, and a state House member. At age 26, Schatz was elected in 1998 to represent urban Honolulu in the 25th District in the state legislature. He rose to chair the Economic Development Committee and was appointed majority whip. Schatz ran for and won the state Democratic Party chairmanship in 2008, and served as fellow Punahou School graduate Barack Obama s campaign spokesman for Hawaii in the presidential race that year. Schatz announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in January 2010 and ran with Neil Abercrombie, who had served 10 terms in the U.S. House before seeking the governorship. In the Senate, Schatz was tied with New York's Chuck Schumer and Connecticut's Murphy as the Senate's most-liberal member in 2013, according to National Journal rankings. Representative Colleen Hanabusa challenged Schatz in the 2014 Democratic primary, but Schatz was able to extend his earlier narrow lead and finish ahead by 1,769 votes out of a statewide total of more than 237,000 ballots cast. Currently: Senator, HI Education: Pomona Col., B.A., 1994 Religion: Jewish Family: Married (Linda), 2 children Contact: (202) 224-3934 722 Hart Senate Office Washington, DC 20510 Supports carbon-pricing, energy efficiency and green technologies Supports grant funding for water conservation and drought projects Supports electronic surveillance against terrorists Against the authorization of military force in Syria Supports same-sex civil unions Senate Committee on Ethics Senate Committee on Indian Affairs Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Senate Committee on Appropriations Brian Schatz (D) Votes: 306,604 Percent: 73.6% John Carroll (R) Votes: 92,653 Percent: 22.2% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2016; Ballotpedia, 2016.
Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa Colleen Hanabusa was born on May 4, 1951 in Wai anae, Hawaii. She received her B.A. in economics and sociology and M.A. in sociology from the University of Hawaii. She also earned her J.D. from the University of Hawaii s William S. Richardson School of Law. After graduating from law school, Hanabusa built a successful private legal practice as a labor lawyer across several firms before founding her own, Colleen Hanabusa AALLC, in 1998. That November, Hanabusa was elected as the state senator for Hawaii s 21st District. She went on to serve as Senate majority leader from 2003 to 2007, when she became president of the Senate, the first woman to hold the role. In May 2010, Hanabusa unsuccessfully ran for the House of Representatives in a special election. She later won the Democratic primary in September and went on to win the 1st District in that year s regular election, and again in her 2012 reelection bid. Following the death of Senator Daniel Inouye, Hanabusa staged a bid for his seat in a 2014 election but lost to incumbent Brian Schatz, who had been picked to serve out the rest of Senator Inouye s term. In May 2016, Hanabusa's successor in the House, Mark Takai, announced he was not running for reelection. Hanabusa subsequently announced that she would once again run for her old seat. Takai later died of cancer, but not before endorsing Hanabusa as his successor. She also successfully ran in Hawaii s 2016 special election to finish Takai's term in the 114th Congress. Currently: Representative, HI- 01 Elected: 2016 Education: U. of HI at Manoa, B.A., 1973, M.A., 1975; William S. Richardson School of Law, J.D., 1977 Religion: Buddhism Family: Married (John) Contact: (202) 225-2726 422 Cannon House Office Washington, DC 20515 Strongly opposes efforts to privatize Social Security Opposes efforts to expand and support free trade Supports abortion rights Supports a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants Strongly opposes expanding the military House Committee on Natural Resources House Committee on Armed Services House Committee on Science, Space and Technology Sources: Ballotpedia, 2017; National Journal Almanac, 2017. Colleen Hanabusa (D) Votes: 145,417 Percent: 72.0% Shirlene Ostrov (R) Votes: 45,958 Percent: 23.0%
Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard Democrat Tulsi Gabbard is a former Honolulu City Council member who survived a hard-fought primary to notch an easy general election victory in this overwhelmingly Democratic district in 2012, becoming the first Hindu in the House. The fourth of five children, Gabbard was born in American Samoa in 1981 and moved with her family to Hawaii at a young age. Gabbard was homeschooled, and along with her brothers and sister, helped run a family restaurant. She graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a bachelor s degree in business administration. In 2002, Gabbard ran for and won a seat representing West Oahu in the state House of Representatives. At 21, she was the youngest woman ever elected to a state legislature. While serving in the legislature, she enlisted in the Hawaii Army National Guard. In 2004, while campaigning for reelection, her unit was activated, but Gabbard herself was not given orders to deploy. She withdrew from the campaign and voluntarily deployed with the medical unit for 18 months. In 2007, she went to Officer Candidate School in Alabama, becoming the first woman to graduate at the top of her class. She deployed again in 2008, to Kuwait as a military police platoon leader training counterterrorism units. Gabbard was then elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010. When Hirono announced her run for the retiring Akaka s seat, Gabbard was the first of six Democrats to jump into the race, touting herself as a fresh voice for Washington. She ran on investing in alternative energy as a way of diversifying Hawaii s tourism-dependent economy, as well as making the state s energy supply more secure. Currently: Representative, HI- 02 Education: HI Pacific U., B.S., 2009 Religion: Hinduism Family: Married (Abraham) Contact: (202) 225-4906 1433 Longworth House Office Washington, DC 20515 Advocate for more affordable housing units through public and private projects Opposes what she terms, the illegal and counterproductive war to overthrow the Syrian government of Assad Supports universal healthcare and empowering the government to negotiate with drug companies to lower the price of prescription drugs Opposed the TPP House Committee on Foreign Affairs House Committee on Armed Services Tulsi Gabbard (D) Votes: 170,848 Percent: 81.2% Angela Kaaihue (R) Votes: 39,668 Percent: 18.8% Sources: National Journal Almanac, 2017. Ballotpedia 2017; votetulsi.com.