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Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, consisting of two main islands ; two smaller, inhabited islands ; and several smaller, uninhabited islands, including the Aleipata Islands. Samoa is located 64 km (40 mi) west of American Samoa, 889 km (552 mi) northeast of Tonga, 1,152 km (716 mi) northeast of Fiji, 483 km (300 mi) east of Wallis and Futuna, 1,151 km (715 mi) southeast of Tuvalu, 519 km (322 mi) south of Tokelau, 4,190 km (2,600 mi) southwest of Hawaii, and 610 km (380 mi) northwest of Niue. The capital and largest city is Apia. The Lapita people discovered and settled the Samoan Islands around 3,500 years ago. They developed a Samoan language and Samoan cultural identity.
Thomas Stewart Udall is an American diplomat, lawyer, and politician serving as the United States Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States senator from New Mexico from 2009 to 2021. Udall also served as the U.S. representative for New Mexico's 3rd congressional district from 1999 to 2009 and New Mexico Attorney General from 1991 to 1999. Born in Tucson, Arizona to the Udall family, he is the son of former U.S. Representative and Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall and the nephew of former U.S. Representative Mo Udall. His cousin is Mark Udall, who concurrently served alongside him in the Senate representing the neighboring state of Colorado.
Togiola Talalelei A. Tulafono is an American Samoan politician and lawyer who served as the sixth governor of American Samoa. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He had previously served as the seventh lieutenant governor.
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.
The American Samoa men's national football team represents American Samoa in men's international association football and is controlled by the Football Federation American Samoa, the governing body of the sport in the territory. American Samoa's home ground is the Pago Park Soccer Stadium in Pago Pago.
The American Samoan Legislature or Fono has two chambers, the House of Representatives and the Senate, which has a directly elected head of government, the Governor of American Samoa.
The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is a federal district court in Washington, D.C. Along with the United States District Court for the District of Hawaii and the High Court of American Samoa, it also sometimes handles federal issues that arise in the territory of American Samoa, which has no local federal court or territorial court.
The American Samoa Fono is the territorial legislature of American Samoa. Like most states and territorial legislatures of the United States, it is a bicameral legislature with a House of Representatives and a Senate. The legislature is located in Fagatogo along Pago Pago harbor.
The American Samoa Senate is the upper house of the American Samoa Fono. The Senate, like the lower House of Representatives, is a nonpartisan body. It is composed of 18 senators, serving a four-year term.
American Samoa's at-large congressional district encompasses the entire U.S. territorial region of American Samoa. The territory does not have a voting member of Congress but does elect a delegate who can participate in debates and vote in committees of which they are a member. Amata Coleman Radewagen is the current delegate of the islands.
General elections were held in American Samoa on November 4, 2008, to elect a governor, members of the House of Representative, and a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, as well as a referendum on a legislative override of the governor's veto. The elections were held as part of the wider 2008 United States general election.
Republican Party of American Samoa is the affiliate of the U.S. Republican Party in American Samoa. It is based in the territorial capital of Pago Pago.
The government of American Samoa consists of a locally elected governor, lieutenant governor and the American Samoa Fono, which consists of an 18-member Senate and a 21-member House of Representatives. The first popular election for Governor and Lieutenant Governor took place in 1977. Candidates for the offices run together on a joint ticket. The first woman to run for election was Arieta Enesi Mulitauaopele in 1977.
Same-sex marriage is not currently performed in American Samoa, though same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions are recognized. On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry. The ruling legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in the United States; however, it is uncertain how the ruling applies to American Samoa as the territory is unincorporated and unorganized. In July 2015, Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga said he believed that the Supreme Court's ruling does not apply to American Samoa.
Lolo Letalu Matalasi is an American Samoan politician, educator, and businessman. He served as the seventh governor of American Samoa, from 2013 to 2021.
Lemanu Palepoi SialegāMauga is an American Samoan politician who is serving as the eighth governor of American Samoa since January 3, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Mauga served as a senator in the American Samoa Senate, where he became the chairman of both the Budget and Appropriations Committee and the Senate Homeland Security Committee.
Tuaolo Manaia Fruean is an American Samoan politician, judge, and civil servant. He has served in both the American Samoa House of Representatives and the American Samoa Senate, and as Commissioner of Public Safety in the Cabinet of Governor Togiola Tulafono. Since 2021 he has been President of the American Samoa Senate.
Elections to state legislatures were held in 46 U.S. states in 2014 with a total of 6,049 seats up for election. Six territorial chambers were up in four territories and the District of Columbia.
Alo Paul Stevenson is an American Samoan politician. He serves as a member for the 7th district of the American Samoa Senate.
Magalei Logovii is an American Samoan politician. He serves as a member for the 8th district of the American Samoa Senate.
References
- ↑ "American Samoa Senate". Ballotpedia . Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ↑ "Senate Members". American Samoa Senate . Retrieved November 2, 2024.
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