(Hilo, Hawai‘i, March 28, 2022) — Senator Lorraine R. Inouye, currently serving Hawai‘i Island’s District 4 in the state Senate, has announced her candidacy for Senate in District 1.
Senator Inouye is the Senate’s majority whip and a member of the Ways & Means Committee. She chairs the Water and Land Committee and is vice chair of the Transportation Committee.
Senator Inouye’s home district has changed in the state’s reapportionment. She will now seek the seat she held from 1998 to 2008, which largely encompasses Hilo and the lower Hāmākua Coast.
“Hilo is literally my hometown,” said Senator Inouye, “and I would be honored for the opportunity to represent this district again and move on some of the projects that seem stalled.” She listed the state leases affecting the Kanoelehua Industrial Area and issues impacting Bayfront as two that have bumped along for years without full resolution.
Representing District 4 for the last eight years, Senator Inouye helped bring millions of state dollars to the district for improving schools, airports, harbors, highways, and agriculture. She was responsible for improvements to Daniel K. Inouye Highway Rt. 200.
“SD1 was my district when I was first elected to the State Senate in 1998,” she noted, and served for 10 years. She stepped down to run again for mayor, a position she had held from 1990 to ’92 following six years on Hawai‘i County Council.
For six years, she was absent from elected office as she concentrated on the flower farm, Aloha Blooms, Inc., which she owns with husband, Vern Inouye. On urging of constituents, in 2014 she ran for Senate District 4 (her district following the 2012 reapportionment) and has continued to serve since then.
Besides her work in the agriculture industry, Senator Inouye started her professional career in the visitor industry; she brings experience in both these areas to the Legislature.
Reapportionment happens every ten years, following the census. It seeks to ensure political districts are equal, based on the census data.
The primary election is August 13, 2022; voters will begin to receive ballots by mail July 26. The general election is November 7.
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