Cedric Asuega Gates

Cedric Asuega Gates

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Successor: Darius Kila

Predecessor: Jo Jordan

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Hawaii House of Representatives District 45

Successor: Chris Muraoka

Predecessor: Lauren Cheape Matsumoto

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Youth Build Hawaii High School

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal LinkedIn

Cedric Asuega Gates (Democratic Party) was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing District 45. He assumed office on November 8, 2022. He left office on November 5, 2024.

Gates (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Hawaii State Senate to represent District 22. He lost in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Cedric Asuega Gates lives in Wai'anae, Hawaii. Gates graduated from Youth Build Hawaii in 2010. He earned an associate degree in political science and urban planning from Leeward Community College in 2016. Gates founded The Active Hawaii Organization and has served as the chairman of Waianae Coast Neighborhood Board #24, the board director of the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center, and an advisory board member of Makaha Elementary School.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Gates was assigned to the following committees:

• Agriculture & Food Systems Committee, Chair
• Consumer Protection & Commerce Committee
• Energy & Environmental Protection Committee

2021-2022

Gates was assigned to the following committees:

• Culture & Arts Committee, Chair
• House Education Committee
• Human Services & Homelessness Committee
• Higher Education Committee

2019-2020

Gates was assigned to the following committees:

• Finance Committee
• Corrections, Military, & Veterans Committee (decommissioned), Vice Chair
• Intrastate Commerce Committee

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Hawaii committee assignments, 2017
• Agriculture
• Finance
• Ocean, Marine Resources, & Hawaiian Affairs, Vice chair
• Public Safety

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Hawaii State Senate District 22

Samantha DeCorte defeated Cedric Asuega Gates in the general election for Hawaii State Senate District 22 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Samantha DeCorte (R)	54.5	6,859
		Cedric Asuega Gates (D)	45.5	5,725

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 12,584
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hawaii State Senate District 22

Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Stacelynn Kehaulani Eli in the Democratic primary for Hawaii State Senate District 22 on August 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates	51.1	1,807
		Stacelynn Kehaulani Eli	48.9	1,729

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,536
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Hawaii State Senate District 22

Samantha DeCorte defeated Teri Kia Savaiinaea in the Republican primary for Hawaii State Senate District 22 on August 10, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Samantha DeCorte	78.8	1,586
	Submit photo	Teri Kia Savaiinaea	21.2	426

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,012
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Gates in this election.

2022

See also: Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45

Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Tiana Wilbur in the general election for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates (D)	55.3	2,678
	Submit photo	Tiana Wilbur (R)	44.7	2,162

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,840
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45

Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Jo Jordan in the Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45 on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates	73.6	1,657
		Jo Jordan	26.4	595

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,252
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45

Tiana Wilbur defeated Cherie Kuualoha Oquendo and Maysana Akahai Aldeguer in the Republican primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 45 on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Tiana Wilbur	35.1	411
	Submit photo	Cherie Kuualoha Oquendo	34.7	406
	Submit photo	Maysana Akahai Aldeguer	30.2	353

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,170
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Maysana Akahai Aldeguer and Joseph Simpliciano Jr. in the general election for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates (D)	62.1	4,518
	Submit photo	Maysana Akahai Aldeguer (R)	28.0	2,036
	Submit photo	Joseph Simpliciano Jr. (Aloha Aina Party)	9.9	721

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 7,275
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Jo Jordan in the Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 on August 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates	74.0	2,225
		Jo Jordan	26.0	783

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,008
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Maysana Akahai Aldeguer advanced from the Republican primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 on August 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Maysana Akahai Aldeguer	100.0	626

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 626
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Aloha Aina Party primary election

Aloha Aina Party primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Joseph Simpliciano Jr. advanced from the Aloha Aina Party primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 on August 8, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Joseph Simpliciano Jr.	100.0	236

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 236
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

The general election was canceled. Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates won election in the general election for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44

Incumbent Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Jo Jordan in the Democratic primary for Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 on August 11, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Cedric Asuega Gates	69.5	1,770
		Jo Jordan	30.5	777

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,547
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Hawaii House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 7, 2016.

Cedric Asuega Gates defeated Marc Pa'aluhi in the Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 general election.

Hawaii House of Representatives, District 44 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Cedric Asuega Gates	62.69%	3,346
	Republican	Marc Pa'aluhi	37.31%	1,991
Total Votes				5,337
Source: State of Hawaii - Office of Elections

Cedric Asuega Gates defeated incumbent Jo Jordan in the Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 Democratic primary.

Hawaii House of Representatives, District 44 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Cedric Asuega Gates	55.46%	1,219
	Democratic	Jo Jordan Incumbent	44.54%	979
Total Votes				2,198

Marc Pa'aluhi defeated Tamiko Sequin in the Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 Republican primary.

Hawaii House of Representatives, District 44 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Marc Pa'aluhi	53.00%	318
	Republican	Tamiko Sequin	47.00%	282
Total Votes				600

2014

See also: Hawaii House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Hawaii House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 9, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. Incumbent Jo Jordan was unopposed in the Democratic primary and defeated Cedric Asuega Gates (G) and Allen "Al" Frenzel (L) in the general election.

Hawaii House of Representatives, District 44, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Jo Jordan Incumbent	60.7%	2,703
	Green	Cedric Asuega Gates	23%	1,025
	Libertarian	Allen "Al" Frenzel	16.2%	722
Total Votes				4,450

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Cedric Asuega Gates did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Cedric Asuega Gates did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Cedric Asuega Gates did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2014

Gates' website highlighted the following campaign themes:

Education

• Excerpt: "Create homegrown teachers, doctors, and leaders."

Agriculture

• Excerpt: "Finance local farmers and Nonprofits to create and/or expand operations to reduce Imports and build a stronger local economy and create a larger food supply for our people."

Cost of living/Homeless

• Excerpt: "Finance more programs and transitional shelters."

Economy

• Excerpt: "Create more local employment with livable wages which will decrease the number of commuters traveling outside of the community for commodities, and services."

Health and Quality of Life

• Excerpt: "Develop more State and County Parks on the Waianae Coast"

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Cedric Asuega Gates campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Hawaii State Senate District 22	Lost general	$125,533	$124,176
2022	Hawaii House of Representatives District 45	Won general	$33,099	$39,518
2020	Hawaii House of Representatives District 44	Won general	$40,503	N/A**
2018	Hawaii House of Representatives District 44	Won general	$48,686	N/A**
2016	Hawaii House of Representatives, District 44	Won	$38,888	N/A**
Grand total			$286,708	$163,694
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Hawaii

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Hawaii scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

In 2024, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 17 to May 3.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].
In 2023, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 18 to May 4.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].
In 2022, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 19 to May 5.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].
In 2021, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 20 to April 29. Koho Pono Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to Hawaiian interests. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2020

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show].
In 2020, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 15 to July 10. Koho Pono Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to Hawaiian interests. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show].
In 2019, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 16 through May 2. Koho Pono Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to Hawaiian interests. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2018

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show].
In 2018, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 17 through May 3. Koho Pono Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to Hawaiian interests. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2017

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show].

In 2017, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 18 through May 4. The Legislature held a special session from July 12 from July 20. The legislature held its first special session from August 28 to September 1. The legislature held its second special session from September 25 to September 26. The legislature held its third special session on November 14. Koho Pono Legislators are scored on their votes on issues related to Hawaiian interests. Sierra Club of Hawaii Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2016

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show].
In 2016, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 20 through May 5. The Legislature held a special session from July 12 from July 20. Hawaii Family Advocates Legislators' votes on bills related to social issues. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

See also

2024 Elections

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Candidate

Hawaii State Senate District 22

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Lauren Cheape Matsumoto (R)	Hawaii House of Representatives District 45 2022-2024	Succeeded by Chris Muraoka (R)
Preceded by Jo Jordan (D)	Hawaii House of Representatives District 44 2016-2022	Succeeded by Darius Kila (D)

[show]

Current members of the Hawaii State Senate

Leadership

Senate President:Ronald Kouchi

Majority Leader:Dru Kanuha

Minority Leader:Brenton Awa

Senators

District 1

Lorraine Inouye (D)

District 2

Joy Buenaventura (D)

District 3

Dru Kanuha (D)

District 4

Tim Richards (D)

District 5

Troy Hashimoto (D)

District 6

Angus McKelvey (D)

District 7

Lynn DeCoite (D)

District 8

Ronald Kouchi (D)

District 9

Stanley Chang (D)

District 10

Les Ihara (D)

District 11

Carol Fukunaga (D)

District 12

Sharon Moriwaki (D)

District 13

Karl Rhoads (D)

District 14

Donna Kim (D)

District 15

Glenn Wakai (D)

District 16

Brandon Elefante (D)

District 17

Donovan Cruz (D)

District 18

Michelle Kidani (D)

District 19

Henry Aquino (D)

District 20

Kurt Fevella (R)

District 21

Mike Gabbard (D)

District 22

Samantha DeCorte (R)

District 23

Brenton Awa (R)

District 24

Jarrett Keohokalole (D)

District 25

Chris Lee (D)

Democratic Party (22)

Republican Party (3)

[show]

Current members of the Hawaii House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Nadine Nakamura

Majority Leader:Sean Quinlan

Minority Leader:Lauren Matsumoto

Representatives

District 1

Matthias Kusch (D)

District 2

Susan Lee Loy (D)

District 3

Chris Todd (D)

District 4

Greggor Ilagan (D)

District 5

Jeanne Kapela (D)

District 6

Kirstin Kahaloa (D)

District 7

Nicole Lowen (D)

District 8

David Tarnas (D)

District 9

Justin Woodson (D)

District 10

Tyson Miyake (D)

District 11

Terez Amato (D)

District 12

Kyle Yamashita (D)

District 13

Mahina Poepoe (D)

District 14

Elle Cochran (D)

District 15

Nadine Nakamura (D)

District 16

Luke Evslin (D)

District 17

Dee Morikawa (D)

District 18

Joe Gedeon (R)

District 19

Mark Hashem (D)

District 20

Tina Nakada Grandinetti (D)

District 21

Jackson Sayama (D)

District 22

Andrew Takuya Garrett (D)

District 23

Ikaika Olds (D)

District 24

Adrian Tam (D)

District 25

Kim Iwamoto (D)

District 26

Della Belatti (D)

District 27

Jenna Takenouchi (D)

District 28

Daniel Holt (D)

District 29

Ikaika Hussey (D)

District 30

Shirley Templo (D)

District 31

Linda Ichiyama (D)

District 32

Garner Shimizu (R)

District 33

Sam Kong (D)

District 34

Gregg Takayama (D)

District 35

Cory Chun (D)

District 36

Rachele Lamosao (D)

District 37

Trish La Chica (D)

District 38

Lauren Matsumoto (R)

District 39

Elijah Pierick (R)

District 40

Julie Reyes Oda (R)

District 41

David Alcos (R)

District 42

Diamond Garcia (R)

District 43

Kanani Souza (R)

District 44

Darius Kila (D)

District 45

Chris Muraoka (R)

District 46

Amy Perruso (D)

District 47

Sean Quinlan (D)

District 48

Lisa Kitagawa (D)

District 49

Scot Matayoshi (D)

District 50

Michael Lee (D)

District 51

Lisa Marten (D)

Democratic Party (42)

Republican Party (9)