Mazie Hirono

• Born: November 3, 1947
• Place of Birth: Koori, Japan

Japanese-born politician

Mazie Hirono began her political career in the state of Hawaii. She was elected to represent Hawaii’s Second Congressional District in the US House of Representatives in 2006, achieving reelection in 2008 and 2010. She later won election to the US Senate in 2012, 2018, and 2024. A naturalized citizen born in Japan, she became the first Asian-born woman to be elected to the US Congress.

Full name: Mazie Keiko Hirono (MAY-zee KAY-koh hee-ROH-noh)

Early Life

Mazie Keiko Hirono was born November 3, 1947, in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, the second child of Laura “Chie” and Matabe Hirono. When Hirono was a young child, her parents separated due to her father’s drinking and gambling habits, and her mother took the children to live with their grandparents for several years. In 1955, Hirono immigrated to the United States with her mother, a US citizen, and older brother; her grandparents and younger brother followed two years later. She became a naturalized US citizen in 1959. The family struggled to survive in Hawaii, and Hirono herself began to work at the age of ten. Despite the financial hardships her family faced, education was a priority for Hirono. After attending Kaahumanu and Koko Head Elementary Schools as well as Niu Valley and Jarrett Middle Schools, she graduated with honors from Kaimuki High School.

Hirono attended the University of Hawaii in Manoa, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1970. She had intended to become a social worker, but her participation in political activities while at university, including protesting the Vietnam War, kindled her interest in a political career. After becoming involved in organizing for the Democratic Party, she coordinated the campaigns of state representatives Carl Takamura and Anson Chong, assisted Chong during his term, and served as an assistant researcher for James Wakatsuki, the Speaker of the Hawaii House of Representatives. Following these experiences, Hirono attended Georgetown University Law School in Washington, DC, earning her JD in 1978. Returning to Hawaii, she served as deputy attorney general, specializing in antitrust cases, and practiced law privately as well.

Political Work

In 1980, Hirono was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives, succeeding Takamura as representative for a district comprising several neighborhoods of Honolulu. During her seven terms in office, she introduced more than one hundred bills that became laws and was named Legislator of the Year by the Hawaii Leaseholders Equity Coalition. She was a member of the House Women’s Caucus and served as chair of the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce from 1987 to 1992.

Hirono was elected lieutenant governor of Hawaii in 1994, serving two terms under Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano. In this role, she promoted civil-service reform, particularly reform of the workers’ compensation system, and boosted the tourism and technology industries. A strong supporter of education, she worked to develop the Pre-Plus program, which built preschools and provided early childhood education to children from low-income households. She also served as chair of the Hawaii Policy Group of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. In 2002, Hirono ran for governor of Hawaii but lost to Republican candidate Linda Lingle, the former mayor of Maui. Hirono remained politically active despite this loss and founded the Patsy Mink Political Action Committee, an organization named after the first Asian American congresswoman and devoted to supporting female, pro-choice Democratic candidates for political office.

In 2006, Hirono again ran for office, seeking a position in the US House of Representatives. Defeating Republican candidate Bob Hogue by a significant margin, she became the representative for Hawaii’s Second Congressional District and took office in 2007. At that time, women made up less than 20 percent of the total membership of the House, and Hirono became one of the few representatives of Asian descent and one of only two Buddhists in Congress. She succeeded in winning reelection in both 2008 and 2010.

While serving in the House, Hirono worked toward reforms in areas such as education, renewable energy, and the environment. Hirono served on a number of committees, including the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and was a member of many caucuses, including the House Democratic Caucus, the Congressional Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Equality Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. She was elected to serve on the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee in 2010.

In 2011, Hirono announced her intent to run for US Senate in the 2012 elections. She won the Democratic primary in August 2012 and then defeated her rival Lingle in the general election with over 62 percent of the vote. Hirono became the US Senate's first woman from Hawaii, first Asian American woman, and first Buddhist. She served on the Armed Services, Judiciary, Veterans' Affairs, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and Energy and Natural Resources Committees.

Following the 2016 presidential election, Hirono became more outspoken. She questioned judicial appointees on issues such as sexual misconduct. Hirono forcefully opposed President Donald Trump, particularly his anti-immigration policies and the appointment of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

In 2017 Hirono was treated for late-stage renal cancer; ten days after her second surgery, she delivered an impassioned appeal to Congress to preserve the Affordable Care Act. She later ran unopposed in the August 2018 primary and won reelection in November by a wide margin.

Hirono sponsored more than sixty bills within the first two years of her second Senate term. She also supported the passage of the 2018 farm bill and the United States-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement. Following heated, highly partisan impeachment proceedings, in early 2020 Hirono also voted to convict Trump and remove him from office.

In April 2021, Hirono sponsored a bill that hoped to combat the increase in violence against Asian Americans which began occurring during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, with Elizabeth Warren, Hirono introduced the Youth Voting Rights Act with the hope of getting younger generations more politically involved. In 2023, Hirono served on the Committees on the Armed Forces, Energy and Natural Resources, Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Judiciary, and Veterans’ Affairs. She was also a member of the Joint Select Committee on Budget and Appropriations Process Reform.

In August 2024, Hirono won the Democratic primary election and headed to the November ballot as the favorite to capture a third term in the US Senate. She won reelection to a third term in November 2024.

Significance

Throughout her career in public office, Hirono has supported a variety of progressive causes and promoted reforms in areas such as health care and education, influencing policy in her home state of Hawaii and elsewhere in the United States. As the first female immigrant from Asia to be elected to Congress, Hirono has called attention to the underrepresentation of both Asian Americans and immigrants in the federal government. In 2023, she remained the only sitting senator to have immigrated to the country.

Bibliography

“About Mazie - Mazie K. Hirono - A Voice for Hawai'i in the U.S. Senate.” Mazie Hirono, 2023, www.hirono.senate.gov/about. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

Atske, Sara. “In 117th Congress, 14% or More Are Immigrants or Children of Immigrants.” Pew Research Center, 12 Feb. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/02/12/immigrants-and-children-of-immigrants-make-up-at-least-14-of-the-117th-congress/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2023.

Beazley, Lisa. “Mazie Hirono.” Hawaii Woman Nov. 2002: 40–41.

Boylan, Dan. “The Immigrant Congresswoman.” Midweek 21 Mar. 2007: 36+.

Flanagan, John. “Mazie Hirono: Her Past, Present and Future.” Star-Bulletin [Honolulu] 1 Dec. 2002: D3.

Forgey, Quint. “Mazie Hirono at SXSW: Trump’s Rhetoric and Policies ‘Give Me a Lot of Reasons to Be Vocal and Visible.’” Politico, 9 Mar. 2019, www.politico.com/story/2019/03/09/mazie-hirono-trump-1214714. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.

Somasundaram, Praveena. "Sen. Mazie Hirono Wins in Hawaii’s Democratic Primaries, AP Projects." Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2024, www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/10/hawaii-primary-democrats-mazie-hirono/. Accessed 21 Aug. 2024.