Neil Abercrombie

	Neil Abercrombie
	Governor of Hawaii
	Incumbent
	In office
	December 6, 2010 - Present
	Term ends
	December 1, 2014
Years in position	3
Party	Democratic
Predecessor	Linda Lingle (R)
	Compensation
Base salary	$117,312
	Elections and appointments
First elected	November 2, 2010
Next election	November 4, 2014
Term limits	2 consecutive terms
	Prior offices
	Hawaii House of Representatives
	1975 - 1979
	Hawaii State Senate
	1980 - 1986
	U.S. House of Representatives
	1986 - 1987, 1991 - 2010
	Education
High school	Williamsville High School
Bachelor's	Union College (1959)
Ph.D.	University of Hawaii-Manoa (1974)
	Personal
Birthday	June 26, 1938
Place of birth	Buffalo, New York
Websites
	Office website

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Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is the current Governor of Hawaii. He was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district (map) from 1991 until his resignation in 2010.

Biography

Abercrombie was born in Buffalo, New York, to Vera June and Donald Abercrombie.^[1] Upon graduating from Williamsville High School (now Williamsville South High School), he went on to pursue studies in sociology at Union College in Schenectady, New York. There, Abercrombie obtained his bachelor's degree in 1959. He moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, and studied at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa where he obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in American Studies in 1974. There he attended classes with and befriended current United States President Barack Obama's parents, Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr.^[2] As a result, Abercrombie was the only member of Congress to have met Barack Obama's parents while they lived in Hawaii.

Education

Williamsville High School
Bachelor's degree in Sociology - Union College (1959)
Ph.D in American Studies - University of Hawaii at Manoa (1974)

Political career

Governor of Hawaii (2010-Present)

Abercrombie was first elected Governor of Hawaii in November of 2010 and assumed office on December 6, 2010.

Issues

Steven Tyler Act

On January 18, 2013, Jamie Kalani English introduced Senate Bill 465, the proposed "Steven Tyler Act." According the bill, "if [a] person captures or intends to capture, in a manner that is offensive to a reasonable person, through any means a visual image, sound recording, or other physical impression of another person while that person is engaging in a personal or familial activity with a reasonable expectation of privacy," he or she would be liable for the "civil action of constructive invasion of privacy." He or she could be sued for general damages, special damages, and punitive damages worth triple the combined general and special damages. According to Section 1 of the bill, the new law would especially help celebrities and be named after Steven Tyler, who owns a vacation home on the island of Maui, in honor of his "contribution to the arts in Hawai‘i and throughout the world."^[3] The Senate passed the SB 465 on March 5 by a vote of 23-2, and the bill was sent on to the House. Only Senators Samuel Slom and Les Ihara, Jr. voted against the bill.^[4] Abercrombie, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, Tyler, Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood, and a number of other celebrities endorsed SB 465. They argued that the paparazzi invade the privacy of celebrities who come to Hawaii to vacation in peace by filming and photographing the celebrities on their private property and that this bill would help promote celebrity tourism in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union, Hawaii Attorney General David M. Louie, the Society of Professional Journalists, and The New York Times opposed the bill, claiming that it would be unconstitutional and suppress journalism.^[5]^[6]

Congressional appointments

On December 26, 2012, Abercrombie appointed his lieutenant governor, Brian E. Schatz, to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy left by Daniel Inouye's death on December 17, 2012. The appointment was somewhat controversial as prior to his death Inouye asked Abercrombie to appoint U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) to his seat.

Following the appointment, Inouye's chief of staff Jennifer Sabas stated, "Sen. Inouye conveyed his final wish to Gov. Abercrombie. While we are very disappointed that it was not honored, it was the governor's decision to make. We wish Brian Schatz the best of luck."^[7]

Per state law, the Hawaii Democratic Party sent Abercrombie a list of three potential replacements to chose from - Schatz, Hanabusa, and deputy state Land and Natural Resources Director Esther Kiaaina. Schatz was said to have received the most votes from the party's central committee.^[8]

Judicial appointments

As governor, Abercrombie is responsible for appointing judges to the Hawaii Supreme Court, Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals, and the Hawaii Circuit Courts. (The Chief Justice appoints judges to the Hawaii District Courts. The governor makes a judicial appointment after candidates are recommended by a judicial nominating commission. The nominee must be confirmed by the Hawaii State Senate before she or he takes office. For an up-to-date list of all of Abercrombie's appointees, see Judgepedia's page on his appointments.

Marriage equality

On February 21, 2012, Abercrombie acknowledged that the state's marriage law "is unconstitutional because it denies same-sex couples the 'fundamental right' to marry," but noted that the state would continue to defend the statute in federal court.^[9] The statement was in response to a federal lawsuit filed against the state Department of Health after a same-sex couple was denied a marriage license. A lawyer for the plaintiffs was encouraged by Abercrombie's stance on the issue. "It's an extremely significant political and moral development to have an important representative of the state, like the governor, stand up and speak his conscience," he said.^[10]

U.S. Congress (1986-1987, 1990-2010)

At the end of his council tenure, Abercrombie once again ran for the U.S. House of Representatives representing Hawaii's 1st congressional district and won in 1990, and went on to be re-elected ten times. In the 2008 election, he won with 70.6% of the vote.

Neil Abercrombie was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and compiled a generally liberal voting record. He supported and voted for the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act. On October 10, 2002, he was among the 133 members of the House who voted against authorizing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He cosponsored H.R. 1312 (Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005) on July 28, 2005. He took issue with the Vatican over not listing torture as a sin.^[11]

According to Project Vote Smart, Abercrombie held the following issue positions while serving in Congress. He was pro-choice, and he voted against a ban on partial birth abortion. He voted with the interests of NARAL and Planned Parenthood 100% between 2000-2006. He voted for bills designed to make it easier for Americans to vote, such as the motor voter bill. He advocated strongly for civil liberties; his voting record was supported by both the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and American Library Association. He also voted against a constitutional amendment to limit marriage to being between one man and one woman. Notably, he was one of only nine representatives not to cast a vote for or against the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001. In 2005, he voted against the extension of the act, calling it “a blank check to trample civil liberties." In 2007, he signed on as a co-sponsor of United States National Health Care Act (H.R. 676), which would have established a national health insurance program. ^[12] He resigned from Congress shortly before the vote on the 2010 health insurance reform bill.^[13]

Controversies

"Mainland" earmarks

For Fiscal Year 2009, the State of Hawaii was one of the top recipients of “mainland money” in the form of Congressional earmarks, receiving $210 dollars in “mainland money” per capita ($270,736,707 total). Maine, a comparable state in population, received only $55 per capita in earmarks.

Abercrombie sought 41 earmarks for a total of $165,034,800 in “mainland money.”^[14]

Honolulu City Council (1988-1990)

Abercrombie won a seat on the Honolulu City Council and served from 1988 to 1990.

Hawaii State Senate (1980-1986)

He moved from the State House to the Hawaii State Senate, where he served from 1980 to 1986. After Representative Cecil Heftel resigned from the United States Congress in July 1986 to run for Governor of Hawaiʻi, Abercrombie was elected to the House in a September 1986 special election to complete Heftel's unexpired term. However, Abercrombie lost the Democratic primary for a full two-year term to Mufi Hannemann, who went on to lose to Republican Pat Saiki in the general election.^[15]

Hawaii House of Representatives (1975-1979)

Abercrombie was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1975 to 1979.

Elections

2014

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2014

Abercrombie plans to seek a second term as Governor of Hawaii in the 2014 elections.

On December 26, 2012, Abercrombie picked his lieutenant governor Brian Schatz over Democratic U.S. House Rep. Colleen Hanabusa to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat left by Senator Daniel Inouye's death earlier in the month. Hanabusa was Inouye's explicitly preferred successor and had been widely considered as the frontrunner for the appointment. After Schatz was tapped for the role, Hanabusa^[16]^[17]^[18] The Hill reported that Hanabusa had begun considering a bid to challenge Abercrombie in the 2014 gubernatorial primary election.^[19]^[20]

2010

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2010

On Sunday, March 9, 2009, Abercrombie announced his intention to again run for Governor of Hawaii instead of running for an 11th term in Congress.^[21] On December 11, 2009 he announced that he would resign his U.S. House seat to concentrate on his gubernatorial bid. He was succeeded in Congress by Republican Charles Djou, the first Republican elected to Congress from Hawaii since Congresswoman Pat Saiki.

Governor and Lt. Governor of Hawaii, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Neil Abercrombie and Brian Schatz	58.2%	222,724
	Republican	Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan	41.1%	157,311
	Free Energy	Daniel Cunningham and Deborah Spence	0.3%	1,265
	Non-partisan	Tom Pollard and Leonard Kama	0.3%	1,263
Total Votes				382,563

Abercrombie defeated Mufi Hannemann in the September 18th Democratic primary.

Campaign donors

Ballotpedia collects information on campaign donors for each year in which a candidate or incumbent is running for election. The following table offers a breakdown of Neil Abercrombie's donors each year.^[22] Click [show] for more information.

Neil Abercrombie's Campaign Contributions
	2010 Governor of Hawaii
Total Raised	$4,438,999
Total Raised by General Election Opponent	$2,954,616
Top 5 contributors	QRM LLC	$6,000
	Hawaii State Teachers Association	$6,000
	Hawaii Association of Realtors	$6,000
	Gabriel Siu	$6,000
	16 other individual donors	$6,000 each
Individuals	$3,396,944
Institutions	$804,269
In-state donations	$3,682,371
Out-of-state donations	$746,470

Personal

In 1981, Abercrombie married Nancie Caraway,^[23] who is a political scientist and feminist writer at the University of Hawaii-Manoa's Globalization Research Center.

Abercrombie is an avid weight-lifter and has a stated goal of lifting 200 lbs more than his age on each birthday. According to reports from his former colleagues in Congress, on Abercrombie's 67th birthday, he bench pressed 267 lbs.^[24]

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