Sen. Mazie Hirono is already racking up a list of firsts: She is the first Asian-American woman, Japanese immigrant, and Buddhist elected to the Senate.
Hawaii has not elected a Republican to the Senate since 1970. So, despite the incredible campaign efforts of former Republican Gov. Linda Lingle – she created a TV channel and aired her speeches, endorsements, and ads around the clock – then-Congresswoman Hirono defeated her challenger by more than 25 percentage points (62.6 to 37.4 percent).
One advantage for Senator Hirono is her personal connection to President Obama (he beat Mitt Romney by more than 40 percentage points in the Aloha State), who supported her campaign. Obama said he needed Hirono’s “cooperative style and commitment to middle class families in the Senate,” in a campaign ad.
Hirono was assigned to three committees: Armed Services, Judiciary, and Veterans' Affairs. She will also focus on a clean energy agenda.
“In the US Senate, I'm determined to continue reordering America's energy priorities – moving us from an economy where fossil fuel exploration makes only a few people wealthy, to an economy based on renewable energy innovation that creates jobs for thousands of people here in Hawaii and protects our air and water for generations to come,” she wrote in Honolulu’s Civil Beat.
Hirono joins the Senate after three terms in the House, where she served on Education and Labor, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Small Business committees. Her voting record ranked 26th most liberal, according to the National Journal, a record more liberal than 90 percent of her House colleagues.
Prior to her tenure in the House, Hirono worked in state politics – 14 years as a state representative and eight years as lieutenant governor. In 2002, she lost the gubernatorial race to Ms. Lingle. She entered politics soon after receiving her law degree from Georgetown with a focus in public interest law.
Hirono immigrated to Hawaii from Japan in 1955 with her mother and brother. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1959 – the same year Hawaii became a state.
