Jason Wu

**Jason Liam Wu** (born February 28, 1985) is an American politician serving as the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii's 1st district from 2015 to 2019, and as a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 23rd district from 2013 to 2015.

Wu was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and graduated from Punahou School in 2003. After graduating, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science a year-early in 2006. He went on to move to Massachusetts to attend Harvard University, graduating with a master's degree in 2008. After completing his education, Wu returned to Hawaii and began working as a political staffer in the Hawaii House of Representatives, working there until 2013.

Wu began his own political career in 2012, being elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives representing the 23rd district. He served for one-term, before announcing his candidacy for U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, representing Hawaii's 1st district. He went on to win the Democratic nomination, and later won the general election. Wu served one-term in the House of Representatives, before announcing his candidacy for United States Senate in 2017. He won the Democratic nomination and later easily won the general election, being sworn in to the Senate on January 3, 2019.

Wu has been theorized as a possible future President of the United States.

## Early life and family

Wu was born on February 28, 1985 in Honolulu, Hawaii to parents Kevin (born 1955) and Harriet Wu (née *Cramer*; born 1958). He is of Chinese and Native Hawaiian descent through his father, while his mother is of Dutch and German descent, originally from California. Kevin is an investment banker, while Harriet is a nurse practitioner. Wu was raised in the affluent Diamond Head neighborhood of Honolulu. Wu is the eldest of three children; his younger siblings include Julianne, born  (1988-04-30) April 30, 1988 (age 35), and Jeremy, born  (1990-07-22) July 22, 1990 (age 33).

## Education and early career

Wu began his education in 1990, attending Punahou School, an independent coeducational K–12 school in Honolulu. Wu expressed an interest in government from a young age, being elected president of his sixth grade class in 1996. Wu began high school at Punahou in 1999. In high school, Wu was active in extracurriculars; he served as class president for all four years of schooling, was active on the debate team, and played varsity soccer and volleyball. Wu graduated from high school as valedictorian in 2003. After graduating, he moved to New York City to attend Columbia University as a political science major. He graduated from Columbia *summa cum laude* one-year early in 2006. After graduating, Wu moved to Massachusetts to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, graduating with a master's degree in public policy in 2008.

After completing his education, Wu returned to Hawaii to begin his career. He was hired at the Hawaii House of Representatives working as a political staffer. In 2010, he became deputy chief of staff to then-Hawaii Representative Carly Smythe. He was later promoted to chief of staff in 2012, before resigning to begin his own political career in 2013.

## Political positions

*Main article: Political positions of Jason Wu.*

## Personal life

Wu began dating attorney Vanessa Byrne in 2007, while they were students at Harvard University. After graduating in 2008, Wu returned to Hawaii and they continued their relationship long-distance for four months before breaking up. They rekindled their relationship in 2010, while Byrne was in Hawaii on vacation. She moved from Connecticut to Hawaii in 2011 to continue the relationship with Wu. Wu and Byrne became engaged in 2012, and later married in 2014. They have three children together: Chelsea, born  (2015-10-14) October 14, 2015 (age 8), Alyssa, born  (2017-03-01) March 1, 2017 (age 6), and Nicholas, born  (2018-08-02) August 2, 2018 (age 5).

Wu and Byrne resided in the Mānoa neighborhood of Honolulu from 2011 to 2014, when they purchased a four-bedroom townhouse valued at $1.1 million in the Ala Moana neighborhood. After being elected to Congress in 2015, they began renting a three-bedroom house in Alexandria, Virginia. The family spends a majority of their time in Hawaii; Wu travels back and forth between D.C. and Hawaii frequently, while Byrne only comes to D.C. for fundraising and special appearances. They plan on educating their children in Hawaii.