Cristine Hyodo Larson

**Cristine Hyodo Larson** (née **Hyodo**; born 9 January 1960) is a Hawaiian politician who has served as speaker of the House of Representatives since 2018. Previously, Larson had served as minister of transport and communications in the Daichi ministry from 2005 until 2006, minister of social affairs and labour in the Chang ministry from 2014 until 2016, and has also served as a member of the House of Representatives for Oahu since 2002. She is a member of the Hawaii National Party.

Born in Honolulu, Larson graduated from President William McKinley High School in 1978. After graduating, she moved to California to enroll in the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science in 1982. She subsequently returned to Hawaii, and received a master's degree in international political economy from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 1984. After completing her education, Larson began working in Hawaiian government. She was hired at the Defense Research Projects Agency within the ministry of defense as a researcher, before leaving to join the ministry of social affairs and labour in 1986. In 1992, she became director of the Administration for Children and Families, and later deputy minister of social affairs and labour for children and families in 1999. She left the position in 2002, in order to enter elected politics.

Larson entered elected politics in 2002, when she was included on the party list in Oahu for the Hawaiian National Party during the 2002 general election. After the party won enough seats, Larson was elected to the House of Representatives. Upon taking her seat in parliament, Larson focused her legislating on issues regarding families, children, and women's issues. In 2005, she was nominated by Charles Daichi to serve as minister of transport and communications in his ministry to replace Jim Davenport. She was later appointed by Queen Keʻalohilani, taking office on 10 May 2005. After the party lost the 2006 general election, Larson stepped down from the position. Daichi later resigned as party chairperson, and a leadership election was called; Larson did not run in the election, and endorsed the candidacy of Judy Carpenter, who went on to win the election.

During Carpenter's tenure as party chairperson, Larson emerged as an ally of Carpenter's, who was considered a prime candidate for a senior ministerial position should the party return to the governing majority. After the party failed to reclaim the majority in the 2010 general election, Carpenter resigned as party chairperson, citing her inability to win back seats that she had promised. Another leadership election was called, with Larson declaring her own candidacy. Winning the endorsement of Carpenter and many other prominent members of her party faction, Larson was considered one of two primary candidates along with David Chang. In the party member vote, Larson went on to lose to Chang, receiving 47.9% of the vote to his 49.5%. Despite her loss, Chang affirmed that Larson would have a place in "any administration of [his]."

Following the 2014 general election, the party returned to the majority, and Chang nominated Larson to serve as minister of social affairs and labour in the Chang ministry, later being appointed by Keʻalohilani on 8 August 2014. The media soon began reporting of disputes between Larson and Chang on social policy, with Larson advocating for increasing funding to already existing government programs meant to assist working families, while Chang wanted funding to be limited. She eventually resigned from the ministerial post on 5 December 2016, citing ideological differences between herself and Chang. After Chang resigned as party leader, Larson was rumored to run to succeed him, but she declined, and instead endorsed Kenzie Kanazawa. Kanazawa later chose Larson to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives on 30 July 2018, becoming the third woman to serve in the position.

Politically, Larson has been described as belonging to the centrist bloc of the HNP, supporting socially liberal policies and economically moderate policies. She has personally identified herself as both a liberal and a moderate. Larson is one of the most highly visible and popular politicians within the HNP, and has been additionally described as one of the most powerful women in Hawaiian politics. In 2017, Larson was listed as the woman most likely to become the first female HNP prime minister. Despite Larson claiming otherwise, she has continued to be cited as a likely future party chairperson or prime minister.

## Early life and education

Larson was born on 9 January 1960 in Honolulu as Mary Cristine Hyodo, to parents John Hyodo (1930–2015) and Keiko Yamashita (born 1934). In her early years, she was referred to as Mary, but began going by her middle name in middle school, as she disliked her first name. Her father was of Japanese, English, German, and Irish descent, while her mother is a Japanese immigrant from Osaka who came to Hawaii with her family as a teenager. Her father worked in design, while her mother was a homemaker. The family was middle-class, and Larson was raised in the Makiki neighborhood of Honolulu. She is the eldest of three children; her younger siblings include Jane (born 1963) and John (born 1965).

Larson began her education in 1965, attending public schooling in Honolulu. As a child, her father was an enthusiastic supporter of the Hawaii National Party, which invigorated Larson's interest in politics. She began high school in 1974, attending President William McKinley High School, where she was both a gifted student and cheerleader. Larson graduated from high school in 1978, and afterwards moved to Los Angeles to enroll in the University of California, Los Angeles, receiving her bachelor's degree in political science in 1982. Larson returned to Hawaii after graduating, later receiving a master's degree in international political economy from the University of Hawaii, Manoa in 1984.

## Political career

### Early politics

Larson began her career in politics in 1984, shortly after graduating with her master's degree. She was employed at the ministry of defense, working as a researcher within the Defense Research Projects Agency. Larson excelled at the work, but believed that defense research was not an area that she had much interest in. After two years in the position, she requested a transfer, and became a senior researcher at the Administration for Children and Families within the ministry of social affairs and labour.

In 1991, Larson was promoted to deputy director of the agency, and later became director of the Administration for Children and Families in 1992, following the resignation of the previous director. In the position, Larson was responsible for overseeing the workings of the entire agency, which was responsible for services such as child support, adoption, foster care, childcare, and preventing child abuse. She was later appointed to a full five-year term as director in 1996, before standing down in 2001.

Larson began her career in elected politics in 2002, when she was included on the party list in Oahu for the Hawaii National Party in the 2010 election. Larson was ultimately elected to the House of Representatives, and took her seat in parliament on 1 July 2002. Upon her election to parliament, Larson focused her legislating on issues affecting families, children, and women.

### Transport and communications minister

In May 2005, Jim Davenport tendered his resignation as minister of transport and communications due to disagreements between himself and Charles Daichi. Daichi subsequently nominated Larson to replace him in the Daichi ministry, and she took office on 10 May 2005. In the position, Larson was responsible for overseeing road safety, civil aviation, maritime transport, rail transport, developing government transportation policy, organizing public transport, public works and infrastructure projects, communication with local governments, and the Hawaiian communications, telecommunications, and broadcasting industries.

The announcement of her nomination arose some light controversy, due to critics alleging that Larson had minimal experience in elected politics and no experience in transportation or telecommunications, and thus was not qualified for the position. Daichi defended Larson by stating that out of the candidates interviewed, she was clearly the best choice. While in the office, Larson focused on improving public infrastructure in rural areas and Honolulu public transit, while also increasing funding to Hawaii National Television (HNT), the Hawaiian public broadcaster. She stepped down from the position on 5 August 2006, after the government was defeated in the 2006 general election.

### Return to opposition

Following the 2006 general election, Larson returned to the opposition and Daichi resigned as party chairperson. Amidst his resignation, a leadership election was called. The Hawaiian media considered Larson to be a potential candidate in the leadership election, but she ultimately declined. After the election had already began, Larson publicly endorsed the candidacy of Judy Carpenter. Emerging as an eager supporter of Carpenter, Larson was named one of her campaign's co-chairs, and lobbied for her amongst other HNP members of parliament. Carpenter went on to win the election, becoming the first woman to serve as HNP chairperson. After her win, Larson was cited as being a member of Carpenter's "inner circle" and was widely expected to receive a ministerial nomination should the party return to the majority.

Carpenter led the party into the 2010 general election, where the party lost more seats and performed disastrously. Following the result, calls for Carpenter's resignation arose, although Larson emerged as one of her defenders. Carpenter ultimately resigned from the post in September 2010, and a second leadership election was called. Considered to be the "spiritual successor" to Carpenter, Larson was widely expected to declare her own candidacy and run in the election, which she later did. Larson emerged as one of the favorites to win the election, and campaigned on the basis of continuing Carpenter's policy goals and remaining in the center of the political spectrum. She faced her main opposition from David Chang, who argued for a more center-right approach of deregulation and lowered government spending. Larson was ultimately defeated by Chang in the election, receiving 47.9% of the vote to his 49.5%. Despite her loss, Chang affirmed that Larson would have a place in "any administration of [his]." Following the election, the media had dubbed Larson to be the "leader" of a coalition of centrist HNP politicians who opposed defunding government programs and supported moderate governing.

### Social affairs and labour minister

Chang led the party in the 2014 general election, and Larson campaigned alongside him. The party was ultimately successful, winning back a number of seats they had previously lost and returning to the majority in parliament. Following their win, Chang was appointed prime minister, and nominated Larson to serve as minister of social affairs and labour in the Chang ministry, taking office on 8 August 2014. The position was said to be Larson's first choice in regards to ministerial appointments, citing her past experience directing the Administration for Children and Families.

Following her nomination, Larson became responsible for overseeing social work, social protection and assistance, pensions, welfare, social security, elder care, labour unions, and workplace standards within Hawaii. Within the Chang ministry, Larson was the only minister selected from her bloc of centrist HNP politicians, which led the Hawaiian media to speculate that Chang only appointed her due to her popularity and name recognition, while he actually had no interest in incorporating the centrist bloc into his governing.

#### Resignation

Soon after her appointment, the media began reporting alleged friction between Larson and Chang over political differences. Larson continuously asked for increased funding to various programs within her ministry's authority, while Chang rebuffed her requests and instead advocated for a number of agencies and offices under her command to be defunded. Later, tension continued to build after Chang reportedly rejected numerous planned initiatives from Larson meant to assist working families in Hawaii. In December 2016, Larson publicly tendered her resignation, and was later replaced by Archie Michishita on 5 December.

After leaving the government, Larson became a backbencher, and continued to be seen as the leader of the centrist bloc of HNP politicians. She publicly criticized both Chang and Michishita on numerous occasions due to policy disagreements. Following a disappointing result in the 2018 general election where the HNP lost their parliamentary majority but maintained a plurality, Chang resigned as party chairperson and a leadership election was called. Despite being widely expected to declare her own candidacy, Larson ultimately opted not to. She later endorsed the candidacy of Kenzie Kanazawa, which the media identified as a turning point in Kanazawa's campaign which allowed her to win over more establishment blocs of the party that were suspicious of her. Kanazawa later went on to win the election, and formed the Kanazawa ministry.

### Speaker of the House of Representatives

Following Kanazawa's victory in the 2018 leadership election, it was reported by the Hawaiian media that Larson was likely to receive a senior position in the Kanazawa ministry. However, Larson denied this speculation, and asserted that she planned on remaining in solely the legislative branch.

On 14 September, the media reported that Larson was to be the preferred choice from the Kanazawa ministry to serve as speaker of the House of Representatives, as had been decided by Kanazawa, Larson, and Olivia Abe. On the opening of parliament on 30 July, Larson was put forward as a candidate for the speakership by the government, and was approved after receiving a majority of votes in the secret ballot speakership election, becoming the third woman to serve as speaker. As speaker, Larson is the president and leader of the legislative branch; she is responsible for presiding over debates, forwarding proposed bills to committees for review, assigning committee chairpeople, and holding votes regarding the passage of a bill.

## Personal life

Larson began a relationship with Hawaiian economist and professor Delancey Larson in 1983. They became engaged in 1985, and later married the following year. They have two children together: Daisy (born 1989) and Lucas (born 1994). The family resides in the Kaimuki neighborhood of Honolulu.

Larson follows the teachings of Buddhism and Shintoism, as do many Japanese people. She is fluent in Japanese and English, and can speak "basic" Hawaiian.