Clayton H. W. Hee is a former Democratic Party member of the

Hawaii Senate The Hawaii State Senate ( Hawaiian: Ka ‘Aha Kenekoa) 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 ...

who represented the 23rd District from 2004 to 2014 and 1984 to 1988. Hee served as chairman of the state senate's Judiciary and Labor Committee.

Personal life and education

Hee is half Chinese and half

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

. He can speak Hawaiian fluently. Hee is married to Lynne Waters and has a brother, Albert Hee. After graduating from

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

and the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

, Hee taught at community colleges and high schools from 1975 to 1981.

Political career

Hee served as state representative from 1982 to 1984 for the district encompassing

Molokai Molokai or Molokai ( or ; Molokaʻi dialect: Morotaʻi ) is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its g ...

Lanai Lānai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The island's on ...

, and West

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

. From 1984 until 1988, Hee served as the state senator for the district encompassing Kailua to

Kaneohe Kāneohe () is a census-designated place (CDP) included in the City and County of Honolulu and in Hawaii state District of Koolaupoko on the island of Oahu. In the Hawaiian language, ''kāne ohe'' means "bamboo man". According to an ancient ...

. He was also the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. In 1990, Hee began serving on the board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. In 2002, he stepped down from the board to run for lieutenant governor of Hawaii, losing in the Democratic primary to Matt Matsunaga. Hee ran successfully for the Hawaii state senate in 2004. Hee was an unsuccessful candidate for the United States House of Representatives in

Hawaii's 2nd congressional district Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is represented by Jill Tokuda, who succeeded Kai Kahele after the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Hawaii, 2022 election. The ...

in 2006, finishing 4th in the Democratic primary behind

Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii. A member of the ...

Colleen Hanabusa Colleen Wakako Hanabusa (, born May 4, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for her party's nomination for ...

, and Matt Matsunaga. In 2018, Hee campaigned for

Governor of Hawaii The governor of Hawaii () is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes bei ...

but later withdrew his candidacy. In 2019, Hawaii governor David Ige appointed Hee to the Hawaii Paroling Authority. In 2024, Hee announced he is running for the state senate once again, with the support of former governors

Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a ...

, Ben Cayetano, and John D. Waiheʻe III.

References

External links

Hawaii State Legislature - Senator Clayton Hee
official government site
Project Vote Smart - Senator Clayton H.W. Hee (HI)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Clayton Hee
20062004
State Senate campaign contributions
2002
Lieutenant Governor campaign contributions
1998
Office of Hawaii Affairs campaign contributions 1953 births Living people Democratic Party Hawaii state senators Kamehameha Schools alumni Native Hawaiian politicians University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Hawaii people of Chinese descent Hawaii politicians of Chinese descent 20th-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature 21st-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature 20th-century Asian-American politicians 21st-century Asian-American politicians {{Hawaii-politician-stub