Shan S. Tsutsui (born August 9, 1971) is an American politician who was the 13th

lieutenant governor of Hawaii The lieutenant governor of Hawaii () is the assistant chief executive of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Article V, Sections 2 though 6 of the Constitution of Hawaii. Elected by popular suff ...

from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously a 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 ...

from 2003 to 2012, and he served as

President of the Senate President of the Senate is a title often given to the presiding officer of a senate. It corresponds to the Speaker (politics), speaker in some other assemblies. The senate president often ranks high in a jurisdiction's Order of succession, succes ...

from 2010 to 2012. On January 29, 2018, Tsutsui announced his resignation, which was put into effect on January 31.

Early life and education

Born in Wailuku, Tsutsui graduated from Maui High School in 1989 and received a B.A. in Economics from the

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Hawaiʻi system and houses the main offic ...

in 1994.

Senate

Tsutsui was a member of the Hawaii Senate from 2003 until becoming lieutenant governor in 2012. From 2003 to 2011, he represented district 4, which includes Waihee, Wailuku, and

Kahului Kahului () is an unincorporated community and a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It hosts the county's main airport ( Kahului Airport), a deep-draft harbor, light industrial areas, and commercial shoppi ...

. Subsequently he represented district 5.

Lieutenant governor

Following the death of U.S. Senator

Daniel Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( , , September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American attorney, soldier, and statesman who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. A Medal of Honor recipi ...

, Governor

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 ...

appointed Lieutenant Governor

Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel Schatz ( ; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member ...

to replace Inouye in the U.S. Senate. As president of the Hawaii Senate, Tsutsui was first in line to replace Schatz as lieutenant governor. After consulting with his family, Senate leaders, and Governor Abercrombie, Tsutsui accepted the position. Tsutsui's successor in the Senate (who served until 2014) was selected by Governor Abercrombie from a list of three names submitted by the local Democratic Party central committee. Tsutsui's position as Senate president was filled by Senate vice president Donna Mercado Kim until Senate members voted on a new president on the opening day of the 2013 session. Tsutsui was elected to a second term as lieutenant governor in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. Tsutsui had expected to share the ticket with Abercrombie in the general election, but Ige defeated Abercrombie in the primary. He announced in October 2017 that he would not run for a third term as lieutenant governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, even though he was eligible to do so because his first term was only the completion of an unexpired term. Tsutsui resigned as lieutenant governor effective January 31, 2018, to take a job with Strategies 360, a communications firm.

Personal

Tsutsui and his wife Lyndelle have three daughters, Mikayla, Kaylee and Kenna.

Electoral history

References

External links

Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Tsutsui, Shan 1971 births Living people Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in Hawaii Democratic Party Hawaii state senators Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Lieutenant governors of Hawaii People from Wailuku, Hawaii Presidents of the Hawaii Senate University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni 21st-century members of the Hawaii State Legislature