Daniel Akaka
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Daniel Kahikina Akaka (李碩 born September 11, 1924) is a U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is the only Chinese American member of the Senate.
Akaka was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. During World War II he served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including service on Saipan and Tinian. He earned a Bachelor of Education (1952) and Master of Education (1966) from the University of Hawaii.
He was first elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1976 to represent Hawaii's Second Congressional District. He won seven consecutive elections by wide margins.
Akaka was appointed to the Senate in April 1990 to serve temporarily in place of the late Senator Spark Matsunaga, and sworn into office on May 16, 1990. In November of the same year, he was elected to complete the remaining four years of Matsunaga's unexpired term. He was re-elected in 1994 for a full six-year term, and, with over 70 percent of the popular vote, again in 2000.
Since 2000 Akaka has sponsored legislation to afford sovereignty to native Hawaiians. The Akaka Bill is presently under consideration.
As of 2006, Akaka serves on the following Senate committees:
- Armed Services,
- Energy and Natural Resources,
- Governmental Affairs (GAC), Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Veterans' Affairs,
- Indian Affairs.
Akaka is married to Mary Mildred "Millie" Chong; they have 5 children, 14 grandchildren, and 4 great-grandchildren.
2006 re-election campaign
In April 2006, he was selected by Time as one of "America's Five Worst Senators." The article criticized him for mainly authoring minor legislation, calling him "master of the minor resolution and the bill that dies in committee".Massimo Calabresi and Perry Bacon, Jr., ["Daniel Akaka: Master of the Minor"], Time Magazine, April 24, 2006, page 30.
Akaka is being challenged in the Democratic primary, to be held on September 23, 2006, by U.S. Representative Ed Case. There are two declared less well-known candidates: Brian Evans, a Democrat and U.S. Senate candidate in 2004, and Lloyd "Jeff" Mallan, a Libertarian candidate.
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