Shan Tsutsui

American politician

Shan Tsutsui

Tsutsui in 2017

13th Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
In office
December 27, 2012 – January 31, 2018
Governor| Neil Abercrombie
David Ige
Preceded by| Brian Schatz
Succeeded by| Doug Chin
12th President of the Hawaii Senate
In office
November 6, 2010 – December 27, 2012
Preceded by| Colleen Hanabusa
Succeeded by| Donna Mercado Kim
Member of the Hawaii Senate
from the 5th district
4th (2002–November 2012)
In office
2002 – December 27, 2012
Preceded by| Redistricted
Succeeded by| Gilbert Keith-Agaran
Personal details
Born|  (1971-08-09) August 9, 1971 (age 53)
Wailuku, Hawaii, U.S.
Political party| Democratic
Spouse| Lyndelle Lee
Education| University of Hawaii at Manoa (BA)

Shan S. Tsutsui (born August 9, 1971) is an American politician who was the 13th lieutenant governor of Hawaii from 2012 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously a member of the Hawaii Senate from 2003 to 2012, and he served as President of the Senate from 2010 to 2012.[1] On January 29, 2018, Tsutsui announced his resignation, which was put into effect on January 31.

## Early life and education

[edit]

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 in 1994.[2]

## Senate

[edit]

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.[3] Subsequently he represented district 5.

## Lieutenant governor

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Following the death of U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye, Governor Neil Abercrombie appointed Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz to replace Inouye in the U.S. Senate.[4] As president of the Hawaii Senate, Tsutsui was first in line to replace Schatz as lieutenant governor.[4] After consulting with his family, Senate leaders, and Governor Abercrombie, Tsutsui accepted the position.[5] 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.[5] 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.[5]

Tsutsui was elected to a second term as lieutenant governor in 2014. Tsutsui had expected to share the ticket with Abercrombie in the general election, but Ige defeated Abercrombie in the primary.[6] He announced in October 2017 that he would not run for a third term as lieutenant governor in 2018, even though he was eligible to do so because his first term was only the completion of an unexpired term.[7]

Tsutsui resigned as lieutenant governor effective January 31, 2018, to take a job with Strategies 360, a communications firm.[8]

## Personal

[edit]

Tsutsui in 2011

Tsutsui and his wife Lyndelle have three daughters, Mikayla, Kaylee and Kenna.[2][9]

## Electoral history

[edit]

Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Democratic Primary Election, 2002

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui | 4,255  | 53.12
Democratic  | Jan Yagi Buen  | 2,921  | 36.47
Democratic  | Thomas Cerizo  | 834  | 10.41
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Election, 2002

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui | n/a  | 100.00
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Election, 2004

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | n/a  | 100.00
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Democratic Primary Election, 2006

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | 6,177  | 68.32
Democratic  | Jan Yagi Buen  | 2,864  | 31.68
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Election, 2006

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | n/a  | 100.00
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Election, 2008

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | n/a  | 100.00
Hawai'i State Senate District 4 Election, 2010

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | 10,931  | 77.83
Republican  | Eric Seibert  | 3,113  | 22.17
Hawai'i State Senate District 5 Election, 2012

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | n/a  | 100.00
Hawai'i Lieutenant Governor Democratic Primary, 2014

Party | Candidate | Votes | %
Democratic  | Shan Tsutsui (inc.) | 120,779  | 47.36
Democratic  | Clayton Hee  | 81,255  | 36.11
Democratic  | Mary Zanakis  | 18,274  | 8.12
Democratic  | Miles Shiratori  | 2,593  | 1.15
Democratic  | Sam Puletasi  | 2,126  | 0.94

## See also

[edit]

* List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Osher, Wendy (December 14, 2012). "House Leadership to be Determined on Opening Day". Maui News.
2. ^ a b "Senator Shan S. Tsutsui". capitol.hawaii.gov. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
3. ^ "State Senate chooses Donna Kim as new president". Honolulu Star Advertiser. December 28, 2012.
4. ^ a b "Hawaii governor names Democrat, Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, to succeed Inouye in US Senate". Associated Press. December 26, 2012.
5. ^ a b c Tran, Cam (December 27, 2012). "Tsutsui's promotion causes ripple effect: Senate to vote on new president on opening day". KITV. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013.
6. ^ "Hawaii General Election 2014" (PDF). Hawaii Office of Elections. November 4, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
7. ^ Imada, Lee (October 22, 2017). "Tsutsui to pass on mayoral run in Maui County". The Maui News. Wailuku, Hawaii. Retrieved January 5, 2018.
8. ^ Dayton, Kevin (January 29, 2018). "Tsutsui resigning as lieutenant governor to join private sector". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
9. ^ "Lieutenant Governor's Biography | Shan S. Tsutsui". Archived from the original on 2013-03-08.

## External links

[edit]

* Office of the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaiʻi
* Appearances on C-SPAN

Political offices

Preceded by

Colleen Hanabusa

|  President of the Hawaii Senate
2010–2012  | Succeeded by

Donna Mercado Kim

Preceded by

Brian Schatz

|  Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
2012–2018  | Succeeded by

Doug Chin

Party political offices
Preceded by

Brian Schatz

|  Democratic nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii
2014 | Succeeded by

Josh Green

* v
* t
* e

Lieutenant governors of Hawaii

* Kealoha
* Richardson
* Ing
* Gill
* Ariyoshi
* Doi
* King
* Waihee
* Cayetano
* Hirono
* Aiona
* Schatz
* Tsutsui
* Chin
* Green
* Luke

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