page_title: Colleen Hanabusa
section_title: Tenure
hierarchical_section_title: Colleen Hanabusa / U.S. House of Representatives / Tenure
caption_attribution_description: English: Colleen Hanabusa as a candidate for the United States House of Representatives at the Aloha Floral Parade
context_page_description: Colleen Hanabusa is an American politician who served as the member of the U.S. Representative from Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. She is a member of the Democratic Party and ran for her party's nomination for governor of Hawaii in 2018, challenging and losing to incumbent governor and fellow Democrat David Ige.
  Before her election to the United States House of Representatives, Hanabusa was a member of the Hawaii Senate. She served as the Senate Majority Leader before being elected Hawaii's first female president of the state senate in 2007. On August 24, 2011, she announced her intention to run for reelection to Congress.
  On December 17, 2012, after the death of Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, it was announced that Inouye had sent a letter shortly before his death to Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie, stating his desire that Hanabusa be appointed to the seat. Abercrombie decided against appointing Hanabusa and selected Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz instead. Hanabusa challenged Schatz in the Democratic primary for the 2014 special election, but narrowly lost.
context_section_description: After House GOP leader John Boehner pledged to give incumbent Congressman Charles Djou a seat on the Appropriations Committee, Senator Daniel Inouye said that Democrats would also name Hanabusa to Appropriations. However, House Democratic leadership instead appointed her to the Armed Services and Natural Resources committees.
  Hanabusa was the third Buddhist to join the United States Congress, preceded by Hank Johnson of Georgia and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. Her election made Hawaii the only state with a majority non-Christian House delegation. She was a member of the New Democrat Coalition.
  She left the House at the end of the 113th Congress to run for US Senate in 2014, losing in the primary. After regaining the seat in 2016, she chose to run in the Democratic primary for governor of Hawaii in 2018, leaving the House again after the 115th Congress.
caption: Hanabusa at the Aloha Floral Parade in 2010
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