page_title: Ben Cayetano
section_title: Cayetano administration
hierarchical_section_title: Ben Cayetano / Cayetano administration
caption_attribution_description: "Hawaii Governor Ben Cayetano welcomes First Lady Hillary Clinton on her arrival for the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of World War II." Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii
context_page_description: Benjamin Jerome Cayetano is an American politician and author who served as the fifth governor of the State of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States.
context_section_description: Term limits forced Waihee into retirement and the Democratic Party nominated Cayetano to run for Governor of Hawaiʻi in 1994. With attorney Mazie Hirono as his running mate, Cayetano was voted into office.
  In 1998, Mayor of Maui Linda Lingle was nominated by the Republican Party to run against Cayetano on an agenda of government reform.  For months leading into election day, Cayetano trailed Lingle in the major media polls. In the closest election in Hawaii's history, Cayetano won a second term by a single percentage point validated by an official recount of ballots.
  Cayetano left office in December 2002. He was succeeded by former Republican challenger Lingle.
  Throughout his tenure in office, Cayetano had to contend with economic uncertainty and serious fiscal problems. Declining tax revenues led to budget shortfalls, and the governor often found himself at odds with his fellow Democrats in the state legislature as he attempted to implement budget cuts to balance the state budget.
  On education, the Cayetano administration built thirteen new schools, and he was able to persuade the teachers' union to extend the school year by seven days. Also under his administration, the University of Hawaiʻi system gained autonomy over internal affairs. On the other hand, labor disputes with UH professors and public school teachers in April 2001 led to simultaneous strikes by both unions that crippled the state's entire educational system for three weeks.
caption: Cayetano with Hillary Clinton in 1995
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