Pat Saiki

Patricia Hatsue Saiki (née Fukuda; born May 28, 1930) is an American politician and former educator from Hilo, Hawaii. She served as a Republican in Congress from 1987 to 1991 and then as Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President of the United States George H. W. Bush.

Pat Saiki
Chair of the Hawaii Republican Party
In office
March 19, 2014 – June 8, 2015
Preceded byDavid S. Chang
Succeeded byFritz Rohlfing
17th Administrator of the Small Business Administration
In office
April 16, 1991 – January 20, 1993
PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush
Preceded byPaul Cooksey (acting)
Succeeded byErskine Bowles (acting)
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1987 – January 3, 1991
Preceded byNeil Abercrombie
Succeeded byNeil Abercrombie
Personal details
Born
Patricia Hatsue Fukuda

(1930-05-28) May 28, 1930
Hilo, Territory of Hawaii, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseStanley Saiki
Children5
EducationUniversity of Hawaii, Manoa (BS)

Early life

Saiki was born in Hilo, Hawaii, on May 28, 1930. Saiki graduated from Hilo High School in 1948 and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1952. Upon graduating from college, Saiki became a teacher at Punahou, Kaimuki Intermediate, and Kalani High schools. She also taught in Toledo, Ohio, when she and her husband, Stanley Saiki, moved there for his medical school residency.[1]

Saiki ran for office after establishing the teacher's chapter of the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Her fellow teachers encouraged her to run for office, which she did in 1968.[2]

Political career

In 1968, Saiki joined the Hawai`i Republican Party and ran successfully for a seat in the Hawai`i State House of Representatives. In 1974, she moved to the Hawai`i State Senate where she served her district until 1982.[3] A vacancy was created by U.S. Rep. Cecil Heftel's untimely leave from Congress, and on September 20, 1986, a special election was held. Saiki lost the special election (to Democrat Neil Abercrombie) but won a separate election (over Democrat Mufi Hannemann) sending her to Congress where she served two consecutive terms. With her election in 1986, she became the first Republican elected to represent Hawaii in the House of Representatives since its statehood.[4] In 1988, she beat challenger Mary Bitterman, a Democrat and former head of Voice of America.[5]

Until the election of Charles Djou on May 22, 2010, Saiki was the only Republican to ever hold a House seat from the state of Hawaii and one of only two Republican Members of Congress (the other being Senator Hiram Fong) to represent the state since it gained statehood.[6] She is also the second woman to be elected to Congress from the state of Hawai`i (the first being Patsy Mink, with whom Saiki served for two years).[7]

While in office, Saiki focused on education-related issues. She was a commissioner for the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education, and was a member of the Fund for the Improvement of Higher Education.[3] Though fiscally conservative, she also pushed for the redress of Japanese Americans for their internment during World War II.[5]

In 1990, she lost a United States Senate race to Daniel Akaka, but was then appointed Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President George H. W. Bush. In 1994, she lost a race for Governor of Hawaii against Democratic challenger Ben Cayetano. Saiki subsequently chaired the Hawaii Presidential campaign of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2008 and the 2010 and 2012 congressional campaigns of Charles Djou. She served from 2014 to 2015 as chair of the Republican Party of Hawaii.[2]

Electoral history
Hawaii U.S. House of Representatives District 1 Election 1986
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Pat Saiki 99,683 59.2
Democratic Mufi Hannemann 63,061 37.45
Libertarian Blase Harris 5,633 3.35
Hawaii U.S. House of Representatives District 1 Election 1988
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Pat Saiki (incumbent) 96,848 54.71
Democratic Mary Bitterman 76,394 43.16
Libertarian Blase Harris 3,778 2.13
Hawaii U.S. Senate Election 1990
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Daniel Akaka (incumbent) 188,901 54.02
Republican Pat Saiki 155,978 44.61
Libertarian Ken Schoolland 4,787 1.37
Hawaii Gubernatorial Election 1994
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Ben Cayetano 134,978 36.58
Independent Frank Fasi 113,158 30.67
Republican Pat Saiki 107,908 29.24
Green Kioni Dudley 12,969 3.51

See also

References
  1. "Patricia Saiki | Densho Encyclopedia". encyclopedia.densho.org. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  2. Farinas, Jamie Kim (February 4, 2015). "Pat Saiki". MidWeek. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  3. Japanese American history : an A-to-Z reference from 1868 to the present. Niiya, Brian., Japanese American National Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.). New York: Facts on File. 1993. ISBN 0816026807. OCLC 26853950.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  4. Doris Weatherford (January 20, 2012). Women in American Politics: History and Milestones. SAGE. p. 11. ISBN 978-1-60871-007-2.
    Congressional Quarterly, inc (June 1, 1989). Congressional Quarterly's politics in America: 1990, the 101st Congress. Congressional Quarterly. pp. 390–391. ISBN 978-0-87187-508-2.
    Eur (2002). The Far East and Australasia 2003. Psychology Press. p. 1118. ISBN 978-1-85743-133-9.
  5. "SAIKI, Patricia | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  6. "Republicans Win Seat in Democratic Stronghold". Archived from the original on May 25, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. Kowalewski, Albin (2018). Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, 1900-2017. Washington, DC. p. 451. ISBN 9780160943560. OCLC 1019833174.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Sources
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