Kenzie Kanazawa

**Mackenzie Naomi** "**Kenzie**" **Kanazawa** (born 14 December 1980) is a Hawaiian politician who has served as prime minister of Hawaii and chairperson of the Hawaii National Party since 2017, being the third woman to serve as prime minister and the second to lead the Hawaii National Party. At only 37 years old, Kanazawa was also the youngest person to ever take office as prime minister in Hawaiian history. She has served as a member of the House of Representatives for Oahu since 2010.

Born in Honolulu to a Japanese-Hawaiian father and white mother, Kanazawa was educated at ʻIolani School, graduating in 1999. She subsequently moved to California to enroll in the University of California, Berkeley, receiving a degree in political science in 2003. After graduating, Kanazawa returned to Hawaii, where she first was hired as a junior analyst at a think tank, until leaving this position to work on the Hawaii National Party campaign in the 2006 election.

After being a campaign staffer for the Hawaii National Party's 2006 parliamentary campaign, Kanazawa was hired by Judy Carpenter as a parliamentary staffer, working in her office's communications department. In 2007, she was promoted to deputy director of communications, later becoming Carpenter's deputy chief of staff in 2009. Kanazawa later entered elected politics in her own right after being selected to stand as a candidate in the Oahu constituency for the Hawaii National Party in the 2010 election. She was ultimately elected to parliament, taking her seat on 1 August 2010. Upon her election, Kanazawa was the Baby of the House, being only 29 years old on her first day in office. After beginning her parliamentary career, Kanazawa emerged as a moderate and social liberal within the party, and has generally been described as a member of its liberal bloc.

Despite remaining a backbencher, Kanazawa attracted popularity amongst the Hawaiian public for her impassioned speeches on the House floor and has identity as a young woman in elected politics. Following the 2014 election, Kanazawa was in talks for a position in the Chang ministry, but was turned down after their policy goals did not align. This snub became widely talked about in the Hawaiian media, and was a contributor towards the unpopularity of Chang and his government. After the party lost their parliamentary majority in the 2018 election, David Chang resigned as prime minister and party leader, and a leadership election was called. Kanazawa later declared her candidacy, and was considered to be the main oppositional candidate. She ultimately narrowly won the leadership election, and was able to negotiate a coalition agreement with the progressive Hui Pū ʻAna political party, allowing for her to become prime minister. She later nominated her first ministry, which focused its attentions towards civil rights and economic reform.

In February 2021, the Green-Progressive Party was formed through a merger of Hui Pū ʻAna and the Green Party. In response to the party's formation, Kanazawa requested Queen Keʻalohilani to dissolve parliament and call for a snap election. While the party's formation did not directly threaten her government, Kanazawa requested the snap election to allow for voters to "profess their views on the situation." The Queen granted her request, and the snap election was scheduled for 11 April 2021. In the lead-up to the election, Kanazawa's government continued on in a caretaker position. The Hawaii National Party later preserved their plurality in the snap election, but still lost a number of seats. Following the results of the election, Kanazawa formed a grand coalition with the Green-Progressive Party, and the second Kanazawa ministry was later sworn in on 30 April 2021.

Politically, Kanazawa has been described as a social liberal, liberal, moderate, and centrist. She belongs to the centrist bloc of the center-right Hawaii National Party, and has pushed for civil rights reform, particularly in regards to the Native Hawaiian community. Kanazawa identifies herself as a moderate, and has stated that she believes the role of the government is to "help guide its citizens" but not "step in the way of their decision making."

## Early life and education

Kanazawa was born on 14 December 1980 in Honolulu to parents Edward "Eddie" (born 1953) and Samantha Kanazawa (née *Mackenzie*; born 1954). Both of her parents are Hawaiian, although her father is descended from immigrants from Niigata and Kyoto, Japan who arrived in Hawaii in the 1910s, while her mother comes from a Californian family from San Francisco who came to Hawaii in the 1890s; through her mother, she has Scottish and Welsh ancestry. Eddie works in advertising, while Samantha is a marketing executive. Kanazawa was raised in an upper middle-class household in the Hawaii Kai neighborhood of Honolulu, and is the elder of two siblings; her younger brother is Joshua (born 1984).

Kanazawa began her education in 1986, enrolling in a local public elementary school in Honolulu. In 1992, she transferred to an independent, all-girls Catholic school, which she graduated from in 1995. She subsequently enrolled in ʻIolani School, a coeducational, independent preparatory school. While at ʻIolani School, Kanazawa was a gifted student who also was a member of the varsity cheerleading team. She graduated in 1999, being elected as her class's prom queen, and subsequently moved to California to enroll in the University of California, Berkeley. While at UC Berkeley, Kanazawa joined the cheerleading team and majored in political science, graduating with her degree in 2003.

## Political career

### Early politics

After completing her education, Kanazawa returned to Hawaii and looked for work on a political campaign or at a political office. After being unable to find what she was looking for, she was hired as a junior analyst at the Hawaii-Asia Alliance Institute, a think tank on Hawaii's relations with Asian nations.

Kanazawa departed from the position in 2005, when she was hired as a junior staffer for the Hawaii National Party during the 2006 election. In the position, Kanazawa focused primarily on constituent outreach, and was tasked with assisting the party's attempts to appeal to constituents and new voters. After the election's conclusion, she was hired as a full-time staffer in the communications department of Judy Carpenter's parliamentary office. In 2007, she was promoted to deputy director of communications, and later became Carpenter's deputy chief of staff in 2009.

### Parliamentary career

Kanazawa opted to run for political office for the first time in the lead-up to the 2010 election. Selected by the Hawaii National Party as a candidate on their party list in Oahu, Kanazawa was ultimately elected to the House of Representatives, and took her seat on 1 August 2010. At only 29 years old, Kanazawa was at the time the youngest sitting member of parliament, and received the honorary title of Baby of the House. Upon taking her seat, Kanazawa was the subject of widespread media attention, with many identifying her as a future leader.

Positioning herself as a moderate and centrist, Kanazawa was unafraid to break with her party on some key issues, supporting LGBT rights and extra protections being granted to Native Hawaiians. In 2011, during debate on the same-sex adoption bill, Kanazawa gave an impassioned speech that received widespread media attention. In the aftermath of the speech, Kanazawa was the most Googled person in Hawaii for two weeks, and additionally became the most popular political officeholder in Hawaii. In 2013, Kanzawa gave another widely circulated speech in support of federally subsidized feminine hygiene products.

Following the 2014 election, the Hawaii National Party won a majority of seats in parliament, and David Chang was to take office as prime minister. In the aftermath of the election, the media reported that Kanazawa had received one meeting with Chang to discuss a possible ministerial nomination. While Kanazawa was reportedly eyeing a nomination for minister of justice, Chang reportedly only considered her for minister of the environment. After their environmental policy ideas did not align, Kanazawa was removed from consideration and did not receive any further meetings. This caused controversy amongst Hawaiians, who took issue with Chang's snub of Kanazawa, accusing him of sexism and ageism against young people. Kanazawa ultimately served as a backbencher throughout Chang's tenure, but continued to maintain a frequent presence in the Hawaiian media, and remained one of the most popular politicians in Hawaii.

### Prime minister

#### First term

Following the 2018 election, the Hawaii National Party lost a significant amount of seats in parliament, resulting in them losing their parliamentary majority. As a result of the loss, Chang resigned from his position as party chairperson, and a leadership election was called. After having teased a potential leadership challenge to Chang, Kanazawa later declared her candidacy to succeed him. In the election, Kanazawa was the sole woman and the youngest candidate in the running, while additionally being the only one to not serve in the Chang ministry. Polling showed a tight race between Kanazawa, Peter Sutherland, and Jack Mori, with observers believing that Sutherland and Mori had been splitting the vote of the establishment wing of the party.

Kanazawa ultimately narrowly won the election, receiving 37.1% of the vote. Following her win, she took office as chairperson of the Hawaii National Party, becoming only the second woman and youngest person ever to lead the party. As the opposition parties had been unable to negotiate a coalition agreement in the weeks since the general election's conclusion, Kanazawa opened coalition talks with the progressive Hui Pū ʻAna political party. After two weeks of discussions, the parties ultimately signed a coalition agreement, securing a majority in parliament and allowing for Kanazawa to take office as prime minister of Hawaii, becoming the third woman and youngest person ever to do so. After being appointed as prime minister by Queen Keʻalohilani, Kanazawa nominated the Kanazawa ministry, becoming the first national government to be led by two women: Kanazawa and Hui Pū ʻAna chairwoman Olivia Abe.

#### Second term

In February 2021, the Green-Progressive Party was formed through a merger of Hui Pū ʻAna and the Green Party. In response to the party's formation, Kanazawa requested Queen Keʻalohilani to dissolve parliament and call for a snap election. While the party's formation did not directly threaten her government, Kanazawa requested the snap election to allow for voters to "profess their views on the situation." The Queen granted her request, and the snap election was scheduled for 11 April 2021. In the lead-up to the election, Kanazawa's government continued on in a caretaker position.

Following the certification of election results, the HNP lost 11 seats, while the Green-Progressive Party emerged as the second-largest party in parliament. Despite losses, the HNP still maintained their parliamentary plurality, which allowed for Kanazawa to still receive a mandate to form a government. She soon opened coalition talks with the Green-Progressive Party, and later negotiated a grand coalition between the two parties. The second Kanazawa ministry was later sworn in on 30 April 2021.

## Personal life

Kanazawa began a relationship with Hawaiian local businessman Jeff Burroughs in 2004. They later became engaged in 2006, and married the following year. Kanazawa and Burroughs have two children together: Sabrina (born 2013) and Jacob (born 2016). Kanazawa has identified herself as "irreligious," although her mother is a Presbyterian and she was raised within her mother's faith, albeit non-practicing. She speaks solely English, but also knows "some" Japanese and Hawaiian.

Since her election as prime minister of Hawaii, Kanazawa has resided with her family at Washington Place in Honolulu, the traditional residence of the prime minister and their family. Prior to this, the family resided in a four-bedroom home in the Manoa neighborhood of Honolulu.