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Blake Oshiro

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Blake Oshiro
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives
from the 33rd district
In office
January 2001 – December 7, 2011
Preceded byTom Okamura
Succeeded byTom Okamura
Personal details
Born (1970-01-16) January 16, 1970 (age 54)
Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Halawa, Hawaii, U.S.
ProfessionPolitician, lawyer

Blake Oshiro (born January 16, 1970) 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.

Oshiro was first elected to the House in 2000 and took office the following January. He subsequently won re-election at two-year intervals. Oshiro came out as gay in 2010 during the debate over Hawaii House Bill 444, which granted civil union rights to same-sex couples in Hawaii.[1] He subsequently faced a socially conservative primary challenger in his 2010 race for reelection, Honolulu City Councilman Gary Okino. Oshiro defeated Okino by 56 percent to 44%.[2] In the general election held on November 2, 2010, Oshiro was reelected over Republican opponent Sam Kong by a margin of 54.5% to 45.5%.[3]

In November 2011, Oshiro announced that he would resign from the legislature in order to become Neil Abercrombie's deputy chief of staff.[4] His resignation became effective December 7, 2011. Per Hawaii law, Governor Abercrombie had to select Oshiro's successor as state representative from the 33rd district. He chose former state representative and majority leader Tom Okamura, who Oshiro had succeeded in January 2001.[5] Due to poor health, Okamura had to resign just weeks after accepting the appointment. Abercrombie appointed Heather Giugni, a Native Hawaiian filmmaker, to the seat in February 2012.[6]

After Abercrombie left office at the end of 2014, Oshiro returned to the private sector as a lawyer with Honolulu law firm Alston Hunt Floyd.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Gay Hawaiian Rep Talks Civil Unions" Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine. The Advocate, May 3, 2010.
  2. ^ "Oshiro beats Okino in closely watched Hawaii House race". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. September 18, 2010.
  3. ^ "Hawaii Office of Elections: 2010 general election results" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Rep. Blake Oshiro named governor's deputy chief of staff". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  5. ^ "Okamura stepping down from House, cites health reasons". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  6. ^ "Governor Abercrombie Appoints Heather Giugni to the State House". Hawaii.gov — Office of the Governor. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2012-08-03.
  7. ^ "Blake K. Oshiro, Of Counsel". 2015-02-01. Archived from the original on 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2016-02-01.
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