WBernard K. Akana was an American engineer and politician. He served as the Mayor of Hawaii County from 1988 until his death on April 12, 1990.
WKeith Amemiya is an American business executive and politician who ran in the 2020 Honolulu mayoral election.
WAlan M. Arakawa is an American politician who served as the fifth and seventh mayor of the County of Maui in Hawaii.
WGeorge Ryoichi Ariyoshi is an American lawyer and politician who served as the third governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. A Democrat, he is Hawaii's longest-serving governor and the first American of Asian descent to serve as governor of a U.S. state. He assumed gubernatorial powers and duties when Governor John A. Burns was declared incapacitated in October 1973 and was elected in 1974, becoming the first Asian-American to be elected governor of a U.S. state or territory. His lengthy tenure is a record likely to remain unbroken due to term limits enacted after he left office. Ariyoshi is now considered an elder statesman of the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi.
WJean Hayashi Ariyoshi was the First Lady of Hawaii for 12 years. Among her accomplishments were the reclamation of missing artifacts from the governor's mansion Washington Place, cataloguing the contents, and opening the house to docent-led tours. She promoted "A Million Trees of Aloha" reforestation of Hawaii that resulted in 1,138,000 trees being planted.
WKeiko Cecilia Bonk is an American artist, musician and politician from Hawaii. Bonk co-founded the Hawaii Green Party and was the first person in North America elected to a partisan level office as a member of the Green Party of the United States. In the US most local elected offices are nonpartisan, meaning the candidate is not running as a member of a political party. State and federal offices are partisan, meaning that the candidates represent political parties. In Hawaii local government, such as county government, traditionally involved declaring your political party. Other people who called themselves "Greens" had been elected to local government offices in the United states prior to Keiko Bonk, but they were not representing a legally established political party. In the United States, it is very difficult to win an election in a partisan race if the candidate does not run as a Democrat or Republican. Keiko Bonk was the first person in the United States to run as a representative of the Green Party and beat a Republican and Democrat.
WTom Brower is an American politician. He was a Democratic House member of the Hawaii House of Representatives who represented the 22nd district— which includes Waikiki, Ala Moana and Kakaako on the island of Oahu. In his spare time he scours streets and parks in his district, looking for shopping carts homeless use to store and move their belongings. He returns good ones to stores and destroys others with his sledgehammer. In 2015 he was injured in another altercation at a homeless camp.
WNelson Kiyoshi Doi, was the fifth lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1978 in the first elected administration of Governor George Ariyoshi. Doi was a member of the Hawaii Democratic Party.
WBeth Keiko Fukumoto is an American politician who served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, representing District 36.
WColleen Wakako Hanabusa is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for her party's nomination for governor of Hawaii in 2018, challenging and losing to incumbent and fellow Democrat David Ige.
WSharon E. Har is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 2013 representing District 42. Har served consecutively from January 2007 until 2013 in the District 40 seat.
WMazie Keiko Hirono is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Hirono served as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1981 to 1995 and as Hawaii's ninth lieutenant governor from 1994 to 2002, under Ben Cayetano. The Democratic nominee for governor of Hawaii in 2002, Hirono was defeated by Republican Linda Lingle. From 2007 to 2013, she served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district.
WLinda Ichiyama is a Democratic member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, representing Moanalua, Aliamanu and Salt Lake, Hawaii in the 32nd District since 2013. Prior to this, Representative Ichiyama represented the same area when it was known as the 31st District since 2010.
WDavid Yutaka Ige is an American politician and engineer serving as the eighth governor of Hawaii. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 2003 to 2014 and the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1985 to 2003. In the 2014 gubernatorial election, he defeated incumbent Governor Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary, and won the general election over Republican nominee Duke Aiona. Ige was reelected in 2018.
WMark Kaniela Saito Ing is an American politician and community organizer who was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 11th District, representing south Maui from November 7, 2012 until November 6, 2018. He unsuccessfully ran to represent Hawaii's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 federal election. Ing currently serves as Climate Justice Director for People’s Action where he leads national campaigns to combat climate change. He serves on various coalitions including the Green New Deal Network, the United National Frontline Table, Climate Power Advisory Board, and the Hawai’i Community Bail Fund’s board of directors.
WDaniel Ken Inouye was an American lawyer and politician who served as a Senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. Representative for the State of Hawaii. A member of the Democratic Party, he was President pro tempore of the United States Senate from 2010 until his death. Inouye was the highest-ranking Asian-American politician in U.S. history, until Kamala Harris became Vice President in 2021. Inouye also chaired various Senate Committees, including those on Intelligence, Indian Affairs, Commerce, and Appropriations.
WKim Coco Iwamoto is an American politician from Hawaii. She was one of the Democratic primary candidates for the position of Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in the 2018 election. Iwamoto previously served as a commissioner on the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission and was previously elected to serve two terms on the Hawaii Board of Education.
WRandall Y. Iwase is an American politician and former Hawaii State Senator. In 2006 he announced his candidacy for the Hawaii Democratic Party's nomination for Governor of Hawaii.
WMichelle N. Kidani is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since January 16, 2013 representing District 18. Kidani served consecutively from 2009 until 2013 in the District 17 seat.
WJean Sadako King, née McKillop was the sixth lieutenant governor of Hawaii, the state's first woman to be elected as such, from 1978 to 1982 in the administration of Governor George Ariyoshi.
WAnn Kobayashi is an American politician and businesswoman from Honolulu, Hawaii. She is a member of the Honolulu City Council, representing District 5 since 2009. She previously held the same City Council seat between 2002 and 2008, but resigned from the seat to unsuccessfully run for Mayor of Honolulu against incumbent Mufi Hannemann. She was also a member of the Hawaii Senate between 1981 and 1994.
WSamuel Satoru Kong is a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing the 33rd district. Before entering the legislature he served in the United States Air Force and operated a florist shop and cab company.
WRoland M. Kotani was an American politician and Democratic member of the Hawaii State House of Representatives. Kotani served as assistant majority floor leader and represented the Pearl City Pacific Palisades area.
WRon Kouchi is a Democratic politician and current 14th President of the Hawaiʻi Senate.
WHerbert Tatsuo Matayoshi was an American politician and businessman. Matayoshi was the mayor of Hawaii County from 1974 to 1984. He was the third Mayor of Hawaii County, as well as its second elected Mayor overall. Matayoshi was also the longest-serving mayor of Hawaii County to date, holding the office for ten years.
WSpark Masayuki Matsunaga was an American politician and attorney who served as United States Senator for Hawaii from 1977 until his death in 1990. Matsunaga also represented Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives and served in the Hawaii territorial house of representatives. A member of the Democratic Party, Matsunaga introduced legislation that led to the creation of the United States Institute of Peace and to reparations to Japanese-American World War II detainees.
WPatsy Matsu Mink was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third-generation Japanese American, having been born and raised on the island of Maui. After graduating as valedictorian of the Maui High School class in 1944, she attended the University of Hawaii at Mānoa for two years and subsequently enrolled at the University of Nebraska, where she experienced racism and worked to have segregation policies eliminated. After illness forced her to return to Hawaii to complete her studies there, she applied to 12 medical schools to continue her education but was rejected by all of them. Following a suggestion by her employer, she opted to study law and was accepted at the University of Chicago Law School in 1948. While at university, she met and married a graduate student, John Francis Mink. When they graduated in 1951, Patsy Mink was unable to find employment and after the birth of their daughter in 1952, the couple moved to Hawaii.
WJohn Mizuno is a Democratic politician who has served in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2006. Mizuno was Vice Speaker of the House from 2013 to 2017, and was re-elected Vice Speaker on 20 January 2021. John Mizuno is the first Hawaii lawmaker to ever be recognized as the Legislator of the Year as a freshman. In 2007 Mizuno was recognized as the Legislator of the Year by the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii. Mizuno was recognized as Legislator of the Year in 2009 by the Hawaii Psychological Association and in 2010 Mizuno was awarded the Legislator of the Year title by the United States Humane Society. He served as a House Majority Whip from 2011 until 2013. In 2017 Representative John Mizuno became the Chairman of the newly formed super committee of Health and Human Services. This was the first time in the history of the House of Representatives that the Health Committee has ever been combined with the Human Services Committee. Mizuno is the former chair of the Human Services Committee (2009-2012). Prior to winning elective office, Mizuno was an administrative hearings officer for the Department of Human Services in Hawaii (1992-1998), a special investigator for the Department of Human Services in Hawaii (1998-2003), and a legislative staff member for the House of Representatives (2003-2006). He is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa and Willamette University College of Law.
WKeo Nakama was an American swimmer.
WClarence K. Nishihara is a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate, representing the state's 18th district since his appointment in 2004. He is the Chair of the Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs.
WRichard H.K. Onishi is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 16, 2013 representing District 3.
WBlake Oshiro is an American politician and lawyer. From 2011 to 2014, he served as deputy chief of staff to the Governor of Hawaii Neil Abercrombie. Oshiro previously served as Majority Leader of the Hawaii House of Representatives, where he represented District 33, comprising the Honolulu neighborhoods of Aiea and Halawa. He spent ten years in the legislature. In 2011, Oshiro completed Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a David Bohnett Foundation LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow.
WPatricia Hatsue Saiki is an American politician and former educator from Hilo, Hawaii. She served as a Republican in Congress from 1987 to 1991 and then as Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President of the United States George H. W. Bush.
WScott K. Saiki is an American attorney and politician. Since 1994, he has served as a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing the state's 26th district. He served as majority leader from 2013 to 2017. On May 4, 2017, he became speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives.
WNorman Sakamoto served as a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from 1996 to 2010. He represented Hawaii Senatorial District 15, comprising the communities of Aliamanu, Foster Village, Halawa, Hickam, Kalihi, Lower Aiea, Mapunapuna, Moanalua, Pearlridge, and Salt Lake on the island of Oahu. He is a former candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii.
WMaile S.L. Shimabukuro is a Democratic member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing the state's 21st district since her election in 2011. The district includes Kalaeloa, Honokai Hale, Ko ‘Olina, Nānākuli, Mā‘ili, Wai‘anae, Mākaha, Mākua on the island of Oahu. She is a graduate of Iolani School, Colorado College and the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law.
WKyle Mark Takai was an American politician from the state of Hawaii who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district, from 2015 to 2016. He served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1994 to 2014.
WGregg Takayama is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 16, 2013, representing District 34.
WChris Toshiro Todd is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 2017 representing District 2 (Hilo). Todd was appointed by Governor David Ige on January 5, 2017, to replace the late Clift Tsuji.
WJill N. Tokuda is a former Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate, representing the 24th District (Kailua-Kaneohe) from 2006 to 2018.
WShan S. Tsutsui is an American politician who was the 12th lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously a member of the Hawaii Senate from 2003 to 2012, and he served as President of the Senate from 2010 to 2012. On January 29, 2018, Tsutsui announced his resignation, which was put into effect on January 31.
WLynne Kobashigawa Waihee was First Lady of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994. Born in Hawaii and married to the first Native Hawaiian governor of the state, she was raised in Kalihi. Educated at Andrews University, her first vocation was teaching. She used her position as first lady to raise the standard of children's literacy in Hawaii. She helped found a children's museum and was a role model for volunteer service in the community, instituting the First Lady's Outstanding Volunteers Program.
WGlenn S. Wakai is an American politician and a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate since January 2011 representing District 15. Wakai consecutively served in the Hawaii State Legislature where he served from 2003 until 2011 in the Hawaii House of Representatives District 31 seat.
WStephen Kei Yamashiro was an American politician and lawyer who served as the former Mayor of Hawaii County from 1992 to 2000. Yamashiro served on the Hawaii County council from 1976 to 1990, including eleven years as the council's chairman. He then served as the Mayor of Hawaii for two consecutive, four-year terms from 1992 until 2000.