Jon Yoshimura is an American attorney and government affairs professional focused on land use and renewal energy development. He served as a member of the Hawaiʻi State Senate from July to November 2018. He was previously chairman and a member of the

Honolulu City Council Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government a ...

Education

Yoshimura earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa and a J.D. from the

William S. Richardson School of Law The William S. Richardson School of Law is the professional graduate law school of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Located in Honolulu, Hawaii, the school is named after its patriarch, former Hawaii State Supreme Court Chief Justice Will ...

Career

Yoshimura served as communications director for Senator

Daniel Akaka Daniel Kahikina Akaka (; September 11, 1924 – April 6, 2018) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Honolulu, he served in ...

and as a reporter for KHON-2. He has also been a member and chairman of the

until 2002. He was first elected to the state senate in 2002 from the newly created 12th district. In 2012, he was a candidate for city council to complete the remaining two years of

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

's term following her election to Congress, a campaign won by

Carol Fukunaga Carol A. Fukunaga (born December 12, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician. She is a member of the Hawaii State Senate from the 11th District and has served in various elected offices since 1978. Early life and education Born in Honolulu, ...

. Prior to being appointed to the State Senate in 2018, Yoshimura worked in the private sector in government affairs for

Tesla Tesla most commonly refers to: * Nikola Tesla (1856–1943), a Serbian-American electrical engineer and inventor * Tesla, Inc., an American electric vehicle and clean energy company, formerly Tesla Motors, Inc. * Tesla (unit) (symbol: T), the SI-d ...

and SolarCity Hawai’i. He was then appointed by Governor

David Ige David Yutaka Ige (; 伊芸豊, ''Ige Yutaka'', born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1994 to 2014 and ...

to fill a vacancy in the Hawaiʻi State Senate from July to November 2018. He was not a candidate in the November election for a full term.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshimura, Jon American people of Japanese descent Living people University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni William S. Richardson School of Law alumni Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature 21st-century American politicians of Asian descent