About Colleen Hanabusa
A Hawaiian history-maker
Colleen Hanabusa has risen quickly through the ranks of Hawaiian politics and made a name for herself as a woman to watch in the Aloha State. Hanabusa was first elected to the Hawaii state Senate in 1998 and her leadership attracted attention from EMILY’s List’s Political Opportunity Program. From 2003-2007, she served as the Senate majority leader, before being elected the first woman president of the Senate – making her the first Asian American woman to preside over a state legislative chamber in the United States. Widely viewed as a leader of uncompromising integrity and skill, 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.
Championing progressive change
Hanabusa is a fourth-generation Hawaii resident whose great-grandparents immigrated to the island. A passionate progressive leader, she’s the right candidate to represent Hawaii’s first congressional district in Washington. In office, Hanabusa has not hesitated to take strong stands to protect the rights of working families, children, women, and native Hawaiians. She has fought for legislation to require insurance companies to cover birth control, to guarantee access to emergency contraception for victims of sexual assault, protect the rights of workers to organize, and to secure funding for schools to strengthen infrastructure and meet the needs of disabled students.
Preparing for a primary battle
Hawaii could become the only state in the nation that has more than one Congressional district to have an all-female U.S. House delegation -- if Hanabusa can raise the resources she needs to win this Democratic-leaning open seat. It won’t be easy; Hanabusa must first defeat the well-funded, conservative former congressman Ed Case in the Democratic primary, who has been described as a "Democrat in name only," before quickly regrouping to overcome a potentially serious GOP takeover attempt in November. Hanabusa, the true progressive in this race, is counting on EMILY’s List members across the country to help her build a campaign war chest to defeat her opponents and mobilize her voters on election day.
