Liliʻuokalani was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom,ruling from January 29,1891,until the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom on January 17,1893. The composer of "Aloha ʻOe" and numerous other works,she wrote her autobiography Hawaiʻi's Story by Hawaiʻi's Queen (1898) during her imprisonment following the overthrow.
Linda Lingle is an American politician who served as the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 to 2010. She was the first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since 1959,and was the state's first female and first Jewish governor. Prior to serving as governor,Lingle served as mayor of Maui County from 1991 to 1999 and as chair of the Hawaii Republican Party from 1999 to 2002.
Daniel Ken Inouye was an American attorney,soldier,and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959,Inouye was the first U.S. Representative for the State of Hawaii,and a Medal of Honor recipient. A member of the Democratic Party,he also served as the 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.
George 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.
Patsy Matsu Mink was an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. She served in the United States House of Representatives for 24 years as a member of the Democratic Party,initially from 1965 to 1977,and again from 1990 until her death in 2002. She was the first woman of color and the first Asian-American woman elected to Congress,and is known for her work on legislation advancing women's rights and education.
Mazie Keiko Hirono is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2013 as the junior United States senator from Hawaii. A member of the Democratic Party,Hirono previously served as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2007 to 2013. Hirono also served as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1981 to 1995 and as Hawaii's tenth lieutenant governor from 1994 to 2002,under Ben Cayetano. She was the Democratic nominee for governor of Hawaii in 2002,but lost to Republican Linda Lingle.
William Shaw Richardson was an American attorney,political figure,and chief justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court from 1966 to 1982. Prior to his service as the top jurist in Hawaii,Richardson was lieutenant governor under John A. Burns. Previous to that tenure from 1956 to 1962 he was chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.
The Hawaii State Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate,elected from the membership of the body,currently Ron Kouchi. The forerunner of the Hawaii Senate during the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii was the House of Nobles originated in 1840. In 1894,the Constitution of the Republic of Hawaii renamed the upper house the present senate. Senators are elected to four-year terms and are not subject to term limits.
Jean Sadako King was the seventh 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.
Paula Aiko Nakayama is an American lawyer who served as an associate justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court from 1993 to 2023. After Rhoda V. Lewis,Nakayama is second woman to ever serve on the Hawaii State Supreme Court. She is also the first Asian American woman to serve as a state supreme court justice nationwide. Currently serving her third term,Nakayama served her first term from 1993 to 2003 and her second term from 2003 to 2013.
Gerald Michael Gabbard is an American politician,serving as the Hawaii State Senator for District 21 from the Democratic party,since 2006. Gabbard rose to prominence for efforts to prevent same-sex marriage in Hawai'i by passing a 1998 amendment to the Constitution of Hawaii to give the state legislature "the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples" under the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Gabbard,who was born in American Samoa,is the first person of Samoan descent to serve in the Hawaii Senate.
Susan Naomi Oki Mollway is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the first East Asian woman and Japanese-American woman ever appointed to a life-time position on the federal bench.
Shiro Kashiwa was an American lawyer and judge who was the first Attorney General of Hawaii to be appointed after it became a state in 1959. He served as a judge of the United States Court of Claims,then as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington,D.C. from 1982 to 1986. He was the first federal judge of Japanese-American descent,the first Asian American judge on the Federal Circuit and was a member of the Jōdo Shinshūsect of Buddhism.
Leslie Emi Kobayashi is a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
The 2012 Hawaii Senate Elections were held on November 6,2012. State senators in all 25 districts of the Hawaii Senate were up for election. 9 seats were won in the primary uncontested. No seats changed parties in this election.
Rosalyn "Roz" Hester Baker is an American politician. She was a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate for District 6 from November 2012 to November 2022. Baker served consecutively from 2002 until 2012 in the District 5 seat,and previously served from 1992 until 1998,having served consecutively in the Hawaii State Legislature from 1988 until 1993 in the Hawaii House of Representatives. Baker was appointed by Governor John D. Waiheʻe III to the Senate on November 26,1993,and served as the Senate Chair of Commerce and Consumer Protection.
Brian T. Taniguchi is an American politician and a former Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate from January 16,2013,to January 16,2023,representing District 10. Taniguchi served consecutively from 1995 until 2013 in the District 10 and District 11 seats,having served consecutively in the Hawaii State Legislature from 1981 until 1995 in the Hawaii House of Representatives.
Clare Elizabeth Connors is an American lawyer who has served as the United States Attorney for the District of Hawaii since 2022. She served as the 16th attorney general of Hawaii from January 3,2019,to December 10,2021. She was also a former nominee for United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii.
Jacqueline Eurn Hai Young was an American politician and activist.
Jon Yoshimura is an American attorney and government affairs professional focused on land use and renewal energy development. He served as a member of the Hawaiʻi State Senate from July to November 2018. He was previously chairman and a member of the Honolulu City Council.
