Hawaii Politics

Former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a trailblazing Hawaii Democrat who became the first woman to serve as president of the Hawaii State Senate, died early Friday at age 74 after a five‑month battle with cancer, her former chief of staff Mike Formby said. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green ordered U.S. and Hawaii state flags flown at half‑staff until sunrise Monday, praising her for breaking barriers and spending decades advocating for her community. A Waianae native and lawyer, Hanabusa represented the Waianae Coast and Leeward Oahu in the state Senate from 1999 to 2010 before being elected to Congress, where she served multiple terms and twice gave up her House seat to run for higher office, including a razor‑thin 2014 Senate loss to Brian Schatz despite the late Sen. Daniel Inouye having named her as his preferred successor. She later returned to the House in 2016, publicly criticized Donald Trump’s election as a troubling signal about the country’s values, and in 2018 unsuccessfully challenged Gov. David Ige in the Democratic primary. In 2021 she was appointed to the board overseeing Honolulu’s long‑delayed, over‑budget rail project, capping a career that made her one of Hawaii’s most prominent female political figures. She is survived by her husband, John Souza, and two dogs, Frannie and Pupper.