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Colleen Hanabusa

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Colleen Hanabusa
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii's 1st district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2011
Preceded byCharles Djou
Succeeded byMark Takai (elect)
11th President of the Hawaii Senate
In office
January 2, 2009 – November 6, 2010
Preceded byRobert Bunda
Succeeded byShan Tsutsui
Member of the Hawaii Senate
from the 21st district
In office
1998–2010
Preceded byJames Aki
Succeeded byMaile Shimabukuro
Personal details
Born
Colleen Wakako Hanabusa

(1951-05-04) May 4, 1951 (age 73)
Waianae, Hawaii, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseJohn Souza
Alma materUniversity of Hawaii, Manoa
WebsiteGovernment website

Colleen Wakako Hanabusa (Japanese: 花房コリーン若子, Hepburn: Hanabusa Korīn Wakako, born May 4, 1951) is an American politician who has served as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since January 2011. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before her election to the U.S. House of Representatives, Hanabusa was a member of the Hawaii Senate, representing the 21st District beginning in 1998.[1] She served as the Senate Majority Leader before being elected Hawaii's first woman President of the Senate in 2007.[2][3] On August 24, 2011, she announced her intention to run for reelection to Congress.[4]

On December 17, 2012, after the death of Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, it was announced that Inouye had sent a letter shortly before his death to the Governor of Hawaii, Neil Abercrombie, stating his desire that Hanabusa be appointed to his seat. Abercrombie decided against appointing Hanabusa and chose Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Brian Schatz instead.[5][6][7] Hanabusa announced a Democratic primary challenge to the incumbent Schatz in the 2014 special election, but lost the primary contest.

Early life and education

A fourth-generation American of Japanese ancestry, Colleen Hanabusa grew up in Waiʻanae with her two younger brothers, her parents, and her grandparents. In 1969 she graduated from St. Andrew's Priory. She received a B.A. in economics and sociology in 1973 and an M.A. in sociology in 1975 from the University of Hawai'i and in 1977 received a J.D. from the University of Hawai'i's William S. Richardson School of Law.[8]

Law career

Hanabusa is a labor lawyer with almost 30 years of experience, and a corporate officer in a family-run corporation. She has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward and White, Inc., served as a delegate to the Hawai`i State Judicial Conference, and was noted in Honolulu Magazine as one of Hawai`i's A+ Attorneys in 1993 and subsequent years.

Hawaii Senate

In November 1998, Hanabusa was elected as the state senator from the 21st District. The 21st District includes Wai'anae, where her family has resided for four generations, as well as Ko Olina, Kahe Point, Nanakuli, Ma'ili, Makaha, Makua and Ka'ena Point.

One of Hanabusa's first acts upon being elected was to organize senators to vote against the second-term confirmation of Hawaii Attorney General Margery Bronster.[8]

Hanabusa served as Senate Majority Leader before being elected the first woman President of the Senate in 2006 – making her the first Asian American woman to preside over a state legislative chamber in the United States.[2] In 2003 she was named one of Hawaii’s “top ten political power brokers”, along with the state’s governor and two U.S. senators, by Hawaii Business Magazine.[9]

Hanabusa previously ran unsuccessfully in a special election held in January 2003 to replace the late Patsy T. Mink as U.S. Representative from Hawai'i's 2nd congressional district, losing to Ed Case, a Blue Dog Democrat.[10] In 2006 she ran for the same seat after Case retired to unsuccessfully challenge Senator Daniel Akaka in the Democratic primary. Hanabusa was again unsuccessful, losing in the Democratic primary to former Lieutenant Governor Mazie Hirono by 844 votes.[11]

Leadership positions

  • Serving the Leeward Coast as State Senator since 1998
  • State Senate President since 2007
  • State Senate Majority Leader since 2007
  • Chair, Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs Committee
  • Co-chair, Joint Senate House Task Force on Ice and Drug Abatement
  • Senate's first statewide hearings on Rice v. Cayetano
  • United States Supreme Court decision Co-Chair, Joint Senate House Investigative Committee: Felix Consent Decree
  • 2001 Vice Chair, Senate Ways and Means Committee
  • Vice President, State Senate
  • Chair, Senate Committee on Water, Land, and Hawaiian Affairs[3]

Key legislation introduced

  • 3 R's program for repair and maintenance of schools
  • Repeal of the Van Cam Law
  • Tax credit to enable construction and jobs at Ko Olina
  • Bill to reform election contributions
  • Bill to pay the awards of the Individual Rights Panel-DHHL
  • Bill to require community notice prior to establishing a halfway house
  • Bill for a ceded land inventory Education Initiatives[3]

Controversies

In 2002, when in the State Legislature, Hanabusa emerged as the leading advocate for legislation authorizing $75 million in tax credits for Ko Olina Resort, a move she declared necessary to spur development for the Leeward area, but which others saw as a reward for a close associate and political backer, Ko Olina developer Jeff Stone. When Governor Ben Cayetano vetoed the tax credit bill, Hanabusa took the unprecedented step of suing to overturn the veto.[12][13]

Within months, Hanabusa's then-fiancé John Souza received a preferential deal in purchasing one of Stone's homes in Ko Olina. In February 2005, less than two years after Souza bought the home, he sold it for a $421,000 profit, according to real estate records. Souza and Hanabusa, who were engaged at the time and married in 2008, then bought a $1-million home in another Ko Olina subdivision developed by Centex Homes of Texas.[14]

The Ko Olina tax-credit legislation, intended to promote development of a “world-class” aquarium at the resort, expired after plans for the aquarium were abandoned. Ko Olina Resort eventually returned the tax credit, but the Lingle Administration and Hanabusa disagreed on how to use the returned funds.[15]

While in Congress, Hanabusa was called a "loan shark" by the Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for abusing her position to pay herself excessive interest payments to settling her campaign debt. Hanabusa's spokesperson stated these interest payments were merely repayment of a bank loan.[16]

Hanabusa appeared on The O'Reilly Factor in January 2013, where she was criticized for attacking O'Reilly even though she later admitted having never seen the very program that she attacked O'Reilly on. O'Reilly had previously commented on various social issues in state.[17]

When Rep. Glenn Wakai introduced legislation to prevent the eating of dogs and cats, Hanabusa refused to hold hearings on it in the Senate Judiciary Committee, preventing it from passing.[18]

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

Hanabusa at the Aloha Floral Parade in 2010
See also: Hawaii's 1st congressional district special election, 2010 and United States House of Representatives elections in Hawaii, 2010 § District 1

Hanabusa ran unsuccessfully in the May 22, 2010, special election to serve out the remaining months of former Representative Neil Abercrombie's term; then-City Councilman Charles Djou was able to defeat her without winning a majority of the votes under the rules of the winner-take-all election that split the Democratic vote between Hanabusa and rival Ed Case, a moderate Democrat.[19][20]

U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Daniel Akaka supported Hanabusa's special election campaign and backed her again in the September Democratic primary. Some in the national Democratic Party indicated a preference for Case, who previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives before an unsuccessful U.S. Senate primary challenge to Akaka in 2006. The national Democratic leadership remained officially neutral.[21][22]

On May 30, 2010, Case, citing his third-place showing in the special election and to avoid a rift among Democrats that could lead to Djou's winning the November election, announced his withdrawal from the race and gave his support to Hanabusa.[23] That placed Hanabusa as the top Democratic candidate in the September party primary, which she then won.[24] Hanabusa subsequently challenged Djou for the same seat and on November 2 won the general election by a 53.2% to 46.8% margin.[1][25][26]

Although there was some speculation that she would run to succeed retiring Senator Daniel Akaka, Hanabusa opted to run for reelection to Congress.[4] She faced Djou again, and defeated him with 54.6 percent of the vote.

Tenure

After House GOP leader John Boehner (R-OH) pledged to give incumbent Congressman Charles Djou a seat on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI) stated that Democrats would also name Hanabusa to Appropriations.[27] However, House Democratic leadership instead appointed her to the Armed Services and Natural Resources committees.[28]

Hanabusa is the third Buddhist to join the United States Congress, the others being Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Hanabusa's election makes Hawaii the only state with a majority non-Christian House delegation. She is a member of the New Democrat Coalition.

Committee assignments

2014 U.S. Senate election

See also: United States Senate special election in Hawaii, 2014

On December 17, 2012, the second-longest serving U.S. Senator in history, Daniel Inouye, who had represented the state of Hawaii since it became a state in 1959, died of respiratory complications.[29] Shortly before his passing, Inouye sent a letter to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie requesting that Hanabusa be appointed to his seat for the remainder of his term. Hanabusa submitted her name for consideration to the Democratic Party of Hawaii,[30] which then included her on a list of three candidates for Abercrombie's consideration.[5][6][31] Abercrombie then appointed Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii Brian Schatz to the seat.[7][32] On December 26, 2012 Schatz was sworn in by Vice President Joe Biden. On May 2, 2013 she announced she would challenge Schatz in the 2014 Democratic primary. She said "Brian was not elected. He was appointed, and I don't think the people have really had an opportunity to weigh in on who they want to represent them in the United States Senate."[33]

In May, Inouye's widow, Irene, endorsed Hanabusa saying “Shortly after she was elected president of the Hawaii State Senate, Dan recognized that Colleen was more than capable of succeeding him and he began to mentor her. His last wish was that Colleen serve out his term because he was confident in her ability to step into the Senate and immediately help Hawaii."[34] Hanabusa's campaign has hired many of Inouye's staffers.[35] Polling throughout the campaign was controversially mixed, with each campaign releasing different poll results.[36] In the end, Sen. Schatz won a narrow victory (115,401 to 113,632).

References

  1. ^ a b Goodin, Emily (November 3, 2010). "Dems pick up Hawaii seat". The Hill. Retrieved 2013-10-27.
  2. ^ a b EMILY's List (2013), "Colleen Hanabusa", emilyslist.org, retrieved 2013-10-27
  3. ^ a b c "About Colleen", Hanbusa for Hawaii, 2013, retrieved 2013-10-27
  4. ^ a b Blair, Chad (August 24, 2011), "No Senate Run for Hanabusa", Honolulu Civil Beat, Peer News, retrieved 2011-08-25
  5. ^ a b Isenstadt, Alex (December 17, 2012), "Colleen Hanabusa favorite for Daniel Inouye seat", Politico.com, retrieved 2013-10-27
  6. ^ a b "Inouye gave preference for successor before he died", CNN PoliticalTicker, December 18, 2012, retrieved 2013-10-27
  7. ^ a b Glueck, Katie (December 27, 2012), "Brian Schatz chosen to replace Daniel Inouye", Politico.com, retrieved 2013-10-27
  8. ^ a b Rees, Robert M. (June 12, 2002), "Queen of the Senate", Honolulu Weekly, archived from the original on 2011-09-27
  9. ^ "Hawaii's Powerbrokers (List)", Honolulu Business Magazine, October 2003, retrieved 2010-05-14
  10. ^ Gima, Craig (January 6, 2003), "Victorious Case sees end of old-style politics", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, retrieved 2011-01-07
  11. ^ Reyes, B.J. (September 25, 2006), "Statewide name recognition gives Hirono the advantage", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, retrieved 2011-01-07
  12. ^ Pang, Gordon Y.K. (August 29, 2006), "Is 2nd time charm for U.S. House candidate?", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2010-05-14
  13. ^ Dooley, Jim (March 4, 2004), "Senator sees no conflict in many ties to Ko Olina", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2010-06-28
  14. ^ Dooley, Jim (October 28, 2010), "Exclusive Report: Close Ties Between Congressional Candidate Colleen Hanabusa and Ko Olina Developer Rake in Funds", Hawaii Reporter, retrieved 2011-02-07
  15. ^ Kua, Crystal (January 18, 2007), "Ko Olina Resort returns tax credit of $75 million", Honolulu Star-Bulletin, vol. 12, no. 18, retrieved 2010-05-14
  16. ^ Dooley, Jim (March 22, 2012), "Hanabusa Rips Washington Group Calling Her A "Loan Shark"", Hawaii Reporter, retrieved 2012-03-22
  17. ^ "Hanabusa, O'Reilly tangle over report", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, January 12, 2013, retrieved 2013-02-01 (subscription required)
  18. ^ "Honolulu Star-Bulletin News /2005/03/05/". Archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2014-08-12.
  19. ^ DePledge, Derrick (January 14, 2010), "Hawaii candidates for Congress outline policy differences", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2011-03-05
  20. ^ DePledge, Derrick (May 24, 2010), "Election results show Djou's appeal outside East Honolulu", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2011-01-07
  21. ^ DePledge, Derrick (May 6, 2010), "Hanabusa defies polls, will stay in race", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2011-01-07
  22. ^ DePledge, Derrick (January 10, 2010), "Senators boost Hanabusa", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2011-03-05
  23. ^ DePledge, Derrick (May 31, 2010), "Case stuns with withdrawal from Hawaii congressional primary", Honolulu Advertiser, retrieved 2011-02-07
  24. ^ Star-Advertiser staff (September 19, 2010), "Djou and Hanabusa have rematch Nov. 2", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, retrieved 2011-02-07
  25. ^ "House Map - Election Results 2010 - The New York Times", New York Times, retrieved 2011-02-07
  26. ^ Reyes, B.J. (November 4, 2010), "Hanabusa sweeps districts", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, retrieved 2011-02-07
  27. ^ Associated Press (October 20, 2010), "Inouye: Hanabusa would win appropriations spot", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, retrieved 2011-02-07
  28. ^ Associated Press (January 19, 2011), "Hanabusa appointed to armed services and natural resources committees", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, retrieved 2011-02-07
  29. ^ Elving, Ron; Block, Melissa (December 17, 2012), "Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye Dies At 88 Of Respiratory Complications", NPR.org, retrieved 2013-10-27
  30. ^ Wong, Scott (December 19, 2012), "Hanabusa to apply for Inouye's Hawaii Senate seat", Politico.com, retrieved 2013-10-27
  31. ^ DePledge, Derrick; Reyes, B.J. (December 27, 2012), "Mr. Schatz goes to Washington", Honolulu Star-Advertiser, retrieved 2013-10-27 (subscription required)
  32. ^ Blair, Chad (December 26, 2012), "Why Abercrombie Didn't Pick Hanabusa", Honolulu Civil Beat, Peer News, retrieved 2013-10-27
  33. ^ Garcia, Oskar (May 2, 2013), "Hanabusa announces US Senate run in Hawaii", Yahoo News, Associated Press, retrieved 2013-10-27
  34. ^ Schultheis, Emily (May 3, 2013), "Daniel Inouye's widow endorses Colleen Hanabusa over Brian Schatz", Politico.com, retrieved 2013-10-27
  35. ^ Blair, Chad; Grube, Nick (June 24, 2013), "Can Inouye's Ghost Take Down Sen. Brian Schatz?", Honolulu Civil Beat, Peer News, retrieved 2013-10-27
  36. ^ Burns, Alexander (July 3, 2013), "Hawaii Dems clash on 2014 polls", Politico.com, retrieved 2013-10-27
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Colleen Hanabusa.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii's 1st congressional district
2011–present 		Succeeded by
Mark Takai (elect)
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by United States Representatives by seniority
298th 		Succeeded by

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