Name: Hannah Trujillo Kahiona
DOB: 12-3-1986
Seat: Hawaii
Party:
Republican 2004-2015
Democrat 2015-Present
Avatar: Trish La Chica
Major Caucus: New Democrats/Third Way
Special Talent: Average Joe, Lvl. 1
Level 1 = Support Boost w/Indies, Opp Party Voters: +1%
Gender: Female: 10 Points
39 years or younger: 20 Points
Straight, married with < 3 children: -5 Points
Asian/Pacific Islander: 0 points for Pacific Islander in HI &
Hispanic/Latino: 10 Points
Roman Catholic: 0 Points
Education: J.D. (Juris Doctor) from Notre Dame University (2004-2010)
Doctoral Degree: 15 Points for being at a Private University
Upper Class: -5 points
Lawyer: 10 points (2011-2016)
Hawaii State Senator: District 25 (2016-2021) 2 points x 1.5 terms = 4 points
Senator from Hawaii: Class 3 (2022-Present), 0 points
Total: 59 points
Bio: Hannah Trujillo (nee. Keaunui) Kahiona was born to her parents on December 3rd 1986 at Wilcox Medical Center in Lihue, Hawaii. Her mother is Gabriela Alicea Mercado who was born and raised in Puerto Rico before going to college at the University of Hawaii. Her father is Thomas Keaunui who was born and raised on the island of Kauai.
Hannah grew up in the town of Lihue on an estate that her father inherited. Her parents were well off financially but did not make their wealth a part of their image to the community. Her parents were practicing Catholics and religion played an important role in her childhood and her life. Her father would become the Mayor of Lihue while her mother would be a 5th grade teacher. She would grow up with her older sister and her younger brother.
In school Hannah would become an honors student and valedictorian of her high school class. She would graduate from high school with a 4.2 GPA and get a scholarship to go to the University of Notre Dame. She would graduate with a Juris Doctor degree and would become a Lawyer at a lawfirm in Honolulu. Throughout her early life she identified as a Republican but would stay out of the realm of politics. However during the 2015 Presidential primary when Donald Trump would eventually become President, Hannah would change her political affiliation, with her being turned off by Trump’s populism and rhetoric. Hannah would meet her to be husband Micheal Kahiona as both of them were practicing lawyers. They would be married in 2014.
In her years as lawyer, Hannah Trujillo Kahiona would be an attorney for the Governor David Ige, and would be close to his administration. Through getting to know state politicians and becoming a well known attorney who even argued in front of the Hawaii supreme court, she would gain state popularity and become well known.
In 2015, she would run for District 25 of the Hawaii State Senate replacing the outgoing Senator Laura Thielen garnering 65.3%. In her campaign she would appeal to Democrats but reach across to try and get Independents and Republicans. She was questioned for doing this as this seat was considered “safe” for Democrats and her response to this was “It is my job to represent all my constituents, and I will do everything I can to ensure that my policies appeal to as many of my constituents as possible”.
She would easily win re-election in 2020 nationally she would endorse Bernie Sanders for President criticizing Joe Biden, before eventually supporting his Presidency. As a state Senator she would push for more green energy policies along with encouraging a balance of islander and business interest in Hawaii. She would become a rising star in Hawaii, surpassing the likes of Tulsi Gabbard, who fell away from the progressive side of the Democratic party to go her own way. Hannah quickly gained a statewide brand, one that would be incredibly useful when she had an opportunity to run for the US Senate in Hawaii.
In 2022, Brian Shatz would announce that he would retire as Senator for Hawaii after being in the position since 2014. Hannah saw this as her opportunity to make a push for the position. Kahiona would run for the Senate seat, running on a platform of someone with decency and someone with a youthful vision for the country. She would have a tough primary, but her style of grassroots campaigning and her youthful energy and vision would stand above the rest, and she would win the Democratic Primary unexpectedly. Fox News and other outlets tried to spin this as a “former” Republican winning the seat but she quickly shot this down saying that “The Republican Party that my father joined is no more, replaced by the cult of personality that is Donald Trump and the extremist MAGA movement”.
She would run in the general election race against Bob McDermott, a former member of the Hawaii House of Representatives. She led all of the polls comfortably, but at the same time still made the effort to reach out to independents and Republicans who had been disenfranchised by Donald Trump. She did unexpectedly well in both of these groups winning the election with a massive majority of 73.5%.
Becoming one of the youngest Senators in United States history, and now someone who had a small national brand, Kahiona would push her party towards more green energy and other progressive platforms, while maintaining some more moderate positions, like for instance, the fact that she is more pro second amendment than other Democratic politicians. Leading into 2023, it seems she has her eyes set on higher and larger prizes, this wouldn’t be the first time, she has unexpectedly done what some would consider impossible…
To be continued………
-- To Be Announced --