Beth Fukumoto Biography
Beth Fukumoto (Beth Keiko Fukumoto Chang) is an American politician born on March 30, 1983, in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. She is a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives since January 16, 2013, representing District 36. She was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 where she was the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader. She is also the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Floor Leader and the Director of Research for the House Minority.
Rep. Beth Fukumoto was first elected in 2012. She is one of the youngest legislators ever to serve as the House Minority Floor Leader, an elected leadership position in the House of Representatives. She currently serves as the House Minority Leader and is the youngest woman to serve as a state caucus leader in the country. Beth considers it a great privilege to represent the community in which she grew up, giving her a greater ability to effectively advocate for her constituents.
Prior to her election, Beth was the youngest woman to serve the state Legislature as Director of Research for the House Minority. She graduated with honors from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a B.A. in American Studies and an M.A. in English from Georgetown University. She was awarded a James Madison Fellowship by the Millennial Action Project for her demonstrated success in transcending partisan lines.
In September 2013, The Daily Beast, a popular political blog, listed Beth as one of “Nine Women Remaking the Right.” Most recently, Beth was named as one of the Washington Post’s “The Fix’s 40 under 40” rising political stars. Recently, she was awarded the Aspen-Rodel Fellowship for demonstrating an outstanding ability to work responsibly across partisan divisions. She was born and raised in Hawaii. She has lived most of her life in Mililani, where she attended Hanalani Schools.
Beth Fukumoto Age
Beth Fukumoto was born on March 30, 1983 (she is 35 years old as of 2019)
Beth Fukumoto Salary
Beth Fukumoto earns a salary of $50,000 and as a CEO she gets a salary of $100,000.
Beth Fukumoto Net worth
Beth Fukumoto has an estimated net worth of $7 million.
Beth Fukumoto Education
Beth Fukumoto Elections
She was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 and is the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader. She is also the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Floor Leader and the Director of Research for the House Minority. In 2016, she was re-elected to represent District 36 by winning the general election, 6,792 votes (66.7%) against Democratic nominee, Marilyn B. Lee with 3,274 votes (31.7%)
In 2014, Fukumoto won District 36 primary election with 1,319 votes [10] and won the November 4, 2014, general election with 5,880 votes (64.5%) against Democratic nominee, Marilyn B. Lee with 3,034 votes (33.3%). In 2012, Fukumoto won the general election with 5,334 votes (51.2%) against incumbent Democratic Representative Marilyn Lee, who had been redistricted from District 38.
In 2010, Fukumoto ran unopposed on September 18, 2010, Republican primary for District 37, but lost the November 2, 2010, general election to incumbent Representative Ryan Yamane. In 2018, she ran for the open United States House of Representatives seat in Hawaii’s 1st congressional district, held by Colleen Hanabusa. She finished fifth in the Democratic primary, won by former Congressman Ed Case. She drew 7,473 votes or 6.3%.
The Hawaii state Office of Elections on Tuesday submitted testimony stating that “This bill as written, may cost approximately $585,200 by requiring a multi-page ballot. To implement ranked choice voting, our current voting system would require any contest with three or more candidates to be listed multiple times on the ballot.” The office recommended that ranked choice voting be limited to special vacancy elections for the office of U.S. Representative.
Beth Fukumoto Politician
Beth Fukumoto was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2012 and is the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader. She is also the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Floor Leader and the Director of Research for the House Minority.
In March 2017, she announced plans to change her party identification from Republican to Democrat citing concerns about racism and sexism. She remained independent until his approval of her request was joined to the Democratic Party on June 19, 2017. In 2018, she ran in the Democratic primary for Hawaii’s 1st congressional district in the 2018 elections to replace Colleen Hanabusa, who ran for Governor. The election was won by former Congressman Ed Case. She represents the 36 District in, Mililani Mauka, and Waipio Acres, the district in which she grew up.
In 2013, she was awarded the James Madison Fellowship by the Millennial Action Project for her demonstrated success in transcending partisan lines. The Daily Beast named Fukumoto one of “Nine Women Remaking the Right.” She was named by The Washington Post as the Top 40 under 40 Rising Political Star. In February 2017, she was awarded the Aspen-Rodel Fellowship for demonstrating an outstanding ability to work responsibly across partisan divisions. She served as the House Minority Leader until 2017, when she was voted out after speaking at a Women’s March event in Hawaii. In early 2017, she was again announced as the openness for leaving the Republican Party and potentially seeking membership in the Democratic Party.
In her statement, she noted her disapproval of President Donald Trump’s behavior and attitude towards women and minorities and her recent estrangement from the Republican Party: In the last couple of years, I’ve watched leaders in the Republican Party become less and less tolerant of diverse opinions and dissenting voices. Today, I’m facing demands for my resignation from leadership and possible censure because I raised concerns about our President’s treatment of women and minorities. I’ve been asked by both my party and my caucus to commit to not criticizing the president for the remainder of his term and to take a more partisan approach to work in the Legislature.
She said this is not a commitment I can make. As a representative of my community, it is my job to hold leaders accountable and to work with anyone, regardless of party, to make Hawaii a better place for our families. This morning, I sent a letter to my district explaining that I would like to leave the Republican Party and seek membership in the Democratic Party. When I was re-elected in November, I was elected as a Republican, and I want to honor my community’s choice by consulting them before any decision is made. As I articulated in my letter, I encourage my constituents to contact me with input and provide feedback. I was elected by the people of Mililani, and I am here to represent them.
On March 22, 2017, she released a statement indicating her plans to resign from the Republican Party and seek membership in the Democratic Party. She cited Republican partisanship and overlaps with the Democratic party platform as factors in making this decision. Seeking feedback from her constituents, she received more than 470 letters weighing in on her decision to leave the GOP, with approximately three-quarters supporting the switch. She remained as an independent until her approval and her request to join the Democratic Party on June 19, 2017.
Beth Fukumoto for Congress
A year after formally leaving the Republican Party, Hawaii State Rep. Beth Fukumoto announced Thursday morning she will run for U.S. Congress. In an email to supporters, Fukumoto thanked them for inspiring her work and addressed the need to navigate “a toxic partisan divide” in order to best represent Hawaii. She made headlines early last year when she was ousted as House minority leader, a role she held since 2014 when she became the youngest person to serve in that position.
Calls for her resignation, she said, began within a day of her speaking at the Women’s March in Honolulu. “For me and my experience during the Women’s March, I had no idea how many people were frustrated and fed up with the current system until I had to face that system and really was beaten down by it,” she is, now a Democrat said.
“I’ve been looking around, for the last few months, I’ve thought, ‘That’s what I want to be’ — to be a voice for people who need a voice.” She began exploring a congressional run last November, telling NBC News at the time it was clear that there was a need for more women in government. Since leaving the Republican Party, Fukumoto added that her constituents have been supportive, regardless of her political affiliation.
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A Maryland-based political action organization is one of the top proponents of HB201, a bill before the Hawaii state legislature that would institute a “ranked choice method of voting for all partisan primary election, special election, and nonpartisan general elections held in the state on or after” Jan. 1, 2020. The bill was introduced by Rep. Joy A. San Buenaventura (D), of the Big Island’s House District 4. FairVote Action submitted testimony Tuesday stating that ranked choice voting would “would improve elections in Hawaii by upholding the principles of majority rule and representative democracy. RCV ensures that elections are won with majorities without the need for a costly, inefficient runoff election.”
“In an RCV election, voters rank candidates in order of choice: their first choice, with an option to rank backup preferences as a second choice, third choice and so on,” testified Rob Richie, FairVote Action President. “All first choices are counted with a value of one vote. If a candidate receives more than half of the first choices, they win, just like any other election. If not, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and voters who picked that candidate as ‘number 1’ will have their votes count for their next choice. The process continues until two candidates remain. Winners will always have a majority of the vote when matched head-to-head against their final opponent.”
Local testimony supporting the bill came from Young Progressives Demanding Action, the Libertarian Party of Hawaii. and Common Cause Hawaii. The bill received 14 votes in the House Finance Committee to advance, with one no vote from Rep. Bob McDermott. In an email to PBN, McDermott said that HB201, and it’s a companion bill in the Senate, SB954, would “create an open primary where only the top two candidates, regardless of party, would advance to the General Election.” “Research conducted by my office shows how damaging this change could be to the Republican Party and smaller parties as well,” wrote McDermott.
“Look at the results of the past four primary elections since the 2011 reapportionment of districts: In 2012, 14 Republican candidates who ran in the primary who would not have been on the November ballot. In 2014, it was 11 Republicans. In 2016, it was 10 Republicans. In 2018, 14 Republicans candidates would not have appeared on the General Election ballot leaving voters with a choice between two Democrats. Significantly, two former Minority Caucus leaders, Andria Tupola and Beth she would never have been elected. Similarly, Cynthia Thielen, Lauren Matsumoto, and newcomer Val Okimoto would not have qualified for the November ballot had a Top Two system been in place. Neither proposed legislation is in the best interest of Hawaii and representative democracy.”
Source: www.bizjournals.com
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