Bruce Victor

**Bruce Richard Victor** (born 12 June 1954) is a Hawaiian politician and lawyer who has served as Leader of the Motherland Party since he founded the party in 1996. Previously a member of the Hawaiian National Party (HNP), Victor represented the HNP in the National Assembly of Hawaii from 1990 to 1996, when he founded the Motherland Party. He has served in the National Assembly, representing the Motherland Party, since 2015.

Born to a middle-class family in Hilo, Victor grew up in the rural Hawaii County settlement of Kukuihaele. After graduating from Hawaii Preparatory Academy in 1972, Victor moved to Honolulu to attend Hawaii Pacific University. He graduated with a business degree in 1976, and later received his law degree from the University of Hawaii School of Law in 1979. After receiving his law degree, Victor began his law degree as a public defender for the City and County of Honolulu, later working as a criminal defense private practice attorney beginning in 1983. Victor left his career as an attorney in 1990 to begin his political career.

Victor's political career began after being included on the Hawaiian National Party ticket for the 1990 Hawaiian general election. The party ended up winning enough seats in the National Assembly, and Victor was elected to parliament. In parliament, Victor was seen as part of the most conservative branch of the party, often coming into conflict with even members of his own party. Victor resigned from parliament in 1996, subsequently leaving the HNP and forming the Motherland Party. After resigning from parliament, Victor returned to his law career while also building a national profile through his activism on behalf of the Motherland Party. In the 2015 election, the Motherland Party won their first ever seats in parliament, and Victor was subsequently reelected to the National Assembly.

Commonly seen in the Hawaiian media as the leading figure of the far-right movement in Hawaii, Victor and the Motherland Party have been criticized by both left-wing and right-wing members of parliament, and Victor has often been labeled a white supremacist, a label that he rejects.

## Early life and family

Victor was born on 12 June 1954 in Hilo to parents Thomas and Margaret Victor (née *Hopkins*). He is of an English background; his parents are the grandchildren of some of the original Californian settlers in Hawaii, who arrived on the island in 1898. Thomas worked as a carpenter and Margaret was a housewife who worked part-time as a lifeguard at local beaches. When Victor was three years old, the family moved from Hilo to a beachfront three-bedroom home that Thomas had built in the rural settlement of Kukuihaele, where Victor was raised. Victor is the eldest of three children; his younger siblings include fraternal twins Eliza and Elisha, born  (1968-10-11) 11 October 1968 (age 55). Growing up, Victor was raised an Evangelical Christian.

## Education and law career

Victor attended both public and private schooling growing up. He began his education at a local public elementary school in 1960. In 1966, Victor transferred to Hawaii Preparatory Academy (HPA), an independent coeducational K–12 school in nearby Waimea, where he studied on a scholarship. Victor began high school at HPA in 1968, where he played on the varsity boys wrestling and volleyball teams. Victor graduated from high school in 1972. After graduating, he moved to Honolulu to attend Hawaii Pacific University, receiving a business degree in 1976.

After graduating with his bachelor's degree, Victor enrolled in the University of Hawaii School of Law. He graduated with a law degree in 1979. Afterwards, Victor began working as a public defender for the City and County of Honolulu. In 1983, he began working as a criminal defense attorney in a private practice. He left his law career in 1990 to enter politics, but returned upon his resignation from parliament in 1996. Until returning to parliament in 2015, Victor worked as a criminal defense attorney at his own law firm.

## Political career

### National Assembly

In 1989, Victor was invited by the Hawaiian National Party to be included on their ticket for the 1990 Hawaiian general election. The party ultimately won enough seats for Victor to be seated, and he became a member of the National Assembly. In parliament, Victor was seen as part of the most conservative branch of the party, often coming into conflict with even members of his own party.

Victor resigned from parliament in 1996, and later formed the Motherland Party. He was reelected to parliament in the 2015 election, representing the Motherland Party.

### Leader of the Motherland Party

After resigning from parliament in 1996, Victor additionally left the HNP for the Motherland Party, which he had founded. As the sole founder of the party, he additionally became party leader.

Victor had come into conflict with the HNP on numerous occasions. While he agreed with their policies regarding the promotion of Hawaiian interests over global affairs, Victor saw the party as "Asian-centric", and that it alienated white and Native Hawaiian views, which he saw as "authentic Hawaiian people". Since founding the party, Victor has been accused of white supremacy and anti-Asian racism on numerous occasions. In 2012, he called on a "total ban" of immigration from Asian nations. He has also made racist comments towards Asian-Hawaiian politicians such as Alessandra Guinea, Helen Takahashi, Jason Wang, Donald Chao, and Dorothy Ching.

Despite standing in the 2000, 2005, and 2010 elections, the party had never won any seats in parliament. For the first time ever, they won six seats in the 2015 election.

## Personal life

Victor has been married three times. He met his first wife, cosmetologist Aspen Georges, while at a Honolulu bar in 1976. They became engaged in 1978 and married the following year. Together, they had three children together: Veronica, born  (1980-12-07) 7 December 1980 (age 43), Meaghan, born  (1982-07-22) 22 July 1982 (age 41), and Jeremy, born  (1984-02-19) 19 February 1984 (age 39). Georges filed for divorce from Victor in 1985, and the divorce was finalized the following year. All three of their children were raised by Georges and her second husband, and had minimal contact with Victor.

Victor met his second wife, attorney Marie Nielson, in 1988, and they married the following year after only nine months of dating. They had two children together: Eric, born  (1992-04-28) 28 April 1992 (age 31), and Elizabeth, born  (1994-08-01) 1 August 1994 (age 29), before divorcing in 1996. Both of their children together were raised by Nielson and have not spoken to Victor since the divorce. Nielson later confirmed that she filed for divorce due to the radicalization in Victor's political views.

Victor began dating his third and current wife, Czech-born politician and activist Katerina Dvorak, in 2000. They became engaged in 2002 and married later that year. Together, they have one child: Anya, born  (2003-03-13) 13 March 2003 (age 20). The family resides in the Kāhala neighborhood of Honolulu.