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Rosalyn Baker
Rosalyn Baker (Democratic Party) was a member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing District 6. She assumed office on November 6, 2012. She left office on November 8, 2022.
Baker (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Hawaii State Senate to represent District 6. She won in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Baker was elected to the Hawaii State Senate in 2002. She represented District 5 from 2002 to 2012. She was redistricted into District 6 in 2012 and won re-election. She previously served in the state Senate from 1992 to 1998. She lost her re-election bid in the 1998 Democratic Primary in Senate District 4.
In 1993 and from 1995 to 1996 she served as Senate majority leader. Baker was on the Maui County Democratic Party Executive Committee from 1986 to 1988. She served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1988 to 1992. She was also a delegate/alternate delegate at the Democratic National Convention in 1984, 1992, 1996, and 2000. Baker was a delegate/Committee Chair at the Hawaii State Democratic Convention from 1986 to 2004.
Biography
Baker earned her B.A./Secondary Teaching Certificate in political science/speech from Southwest Texas State University in 1968 and pursued graduate studies in political science at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1969.
Baker's professional experience includes working as a graduate instructor for the University of Southwestern Louisiana from 1968 to 1969, as a lobbyist/assistant director of government relations for the National Education Association from 1969 to 1980, as the owner of Wayfarer and Rosalyn's from 1980 to 1987, as a legislative aide for Representative Karen Horita in 1987, as a business consultant from 1987 to 1988 and as the economic development coordinator for the county of Maui from 1999 to 2002.
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.
2021-2022
Baker was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Baker was assigned to the following committees:
- Government Operations Committee
- Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, Chair
- Public Safety and Military Affairs Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Hawaii committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, Chair |
| • Economic Development, Tourism, and Technology |
| • Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Baker served on the following committees:
| Hawaii committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Consumer Protection, Chair |
| • Economic Development and Technology |
| • Health |
| • Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, Vice chair |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Baker served on the following committees:
| Hawaii committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Consumer Protection, Chair |
| • Economic Development, Government Operations and Housing |
| • Health |
| • Public Safety, Intergovernmental and Military Affairs, Vice Chair |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Baker served on these committees:
| Hawaii committee assignments, 2011 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Consumer Protection |
| • Economic Development and Technology |
| • Health |
| • Public Safety, Government Operations, and Military Affairs |
| • Joint Legislative Committee on Aging in Place |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Baker served on these committees:
| Hawaii committee assignments, 2009 |
|---|
| • Commerce and Consumer Protection |
| • Economic Development and Technology |
| • Health |
| • Higher Education |
Issues
2012
Newspaper monopoly
The Hawaii state legislature inadvertently created a monopoly in the Honolulu newspaper industry by requiring that foreclosures be announced in a daily newspaper distributed in the county where the foreclosure occurred. The Honolulu Star Advertiser was the only newspaper that fit this description, and thus held a monopoly. When the legislature sought to expand the law to allow foreclosures to be noted in weekly publications, Star Advertiser employees lobbied to keep the law as it was. Baker, in an interview, noted that she was "appalled" at their tactics. She noted that lawmakers had mistakenly granted the paper a monopoly, and said that lawmakers should change the situation to allow for more market competition.[1]
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
2022
- See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2022
Rosalyn Baker did not file to run for re-election.
2018
See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Hawaii State Senate District 6
Incumbent Rosalyn Baker defeated Melissah Shishido in the general election for Hawaii State Senate District 6 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rosalyn Baker (D) | 67.2 | 8,978 |
 | Melissah Shishido (G) | 32.8 | 4,379 | |
| Total votes: 13,357 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Hawaii State Senate District 6
Incumbent Rosalyn Baker defeated Terez Amato in the Democratic primary for Hawaii State Senate District 6 on August 11, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Rosalyn Baker | 50.8 | 3,394 |
 | Terez Amato | 49.2 | 3,288 | |
| Total votes: 6,682 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Green primary election
Green primary for Hawaii State Senate District 6
Melissah Shishido advanced from the Green primary for Hawaii State Senate District 6 on August 11, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissah Shishido | 100.0 | 29 |
| Total votes: 29 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2014
- See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the Hawaii State Senate 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 Roz Baker defeated Terez M. Amato in the Democratic primary, while Jared P. "Pika" Dubois was unopposed in the Republican primary. Baker defeated Dubois and Bronson Kekahuna Kaahui (L) in the general election.[2][3][4]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Roz Baker Incumbent |
63.7% | 7,210 | |
| Republican | Jared P. "Pika" Dubois | 25.8% | 2,916 | |
| Libertarian | Bronson Kekahuna Kaahui | 10.6% | 1,196 | |
| Total Votes | 11,322 | |||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
|---|---|---|
|
Roz Baker Incumbent |
54.9% | 2,699 |
| Terez M. Amato | 45.1% | 2,213 |
| Total Votes | 4,912 | |
2012
- See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2012
Baker won re-election in the 2012 election for Hawaii State Senate District 6. Baker ran unopposed in the August 11 Democratic primary and defeated Bart Mulvihill (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[5][6][7]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Rosalyn Baker Incumbent |
72.5% | 9,808 | |
| Republican | Bart Mulvihill | 27.5% | 3,717 | |
| Total Votes | 13,525 | |||
2008
On November 4, 2008, Baker won re-election to the Hawaii State Senate from Hawaii's 5th Senate District. Baker received 8,506 votes in the election, defeating Jan Shields (R), who received 6,286 votes. Additionally, 1,045 "Blank" votes and 14 "Over" votes were cast in the election.[8] Baker raised $152,764 for her campaign; Shields raised $75,915.[9]
| Hawaii State Senate, District 5 (2008) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Rosalyn Baker (D)
|
8,506 | 53.7% | ||
| Jan Shields (R) | 6,286 | 39.7% | ||
| Blank | 1,045 | 6.6% | ||
| Over | 14 | 0.1% | ||
Campaign themes
2012
Baker's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[10]
- Vacation Rentals
- "During the past year, concerns were raised on the Big Island and Kauai that many owners of vacation rental properties were not paying or underpaying their Hawai'i GET and TAT taxes. ...We know there are lots of law abiding, taxpaying operators of vacation rentals. But there are also those who willfully disregard the law and even some who believe certain provisions do not apply to them. This bill will help foster compliance and allow renters visiting our state to trust that they are dealing with legitimate businesses."
- Kihei High School
- "Since I began to represent South Maui in 2002 I have made it my top priority to secure funding to build Kihei High School. ...Kihei High should be built as a public private partnership. To facilitate that effort, my goal right now is to obtain funding for the infrastructure work necessary to move forward with construction."
Campaign finance summary
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.
Scorecards
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.
2022
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]. |
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In 2021, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 20 to April 29.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 15 to July 10.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 16 through May 2.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 17 through May 3.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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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.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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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.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 21 through May 7.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 15 through May 2.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Hawaii State Legislature was in session from January 16 to May 3.
|
See also
- Hawaii State Senate
- Hawaii Senate Committees
- Hawaii State Senate District 6
- Hawaii State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Hawaii Reporter, "State Senator "Appalled" by Newspaper Lobbying Tactics," April 28, 2012
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed June 6, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed August 25, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed November 12, 2014
- ↑ civilbeat.com, " Unofficial 2012 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official 2012 Primary election results," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official 2012 General election results," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Secretary of State, "Official 2008 General election results," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Follow The Money, "Campaign funds," accessed March 24, 2014
- ↑ Roz Baker, "Roz On," accessed September 16, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Paychecks Hawaii, "PAYCHECKS HAWAII Ratings of the 2013 Hawaii State Legislature," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Paychecks Hawaii, "PAYCHECKS HAWAII Ratings of the 2013 Hawaii State Legislature," accessed July 11, 2017
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by - |
Hawaii State Senate District 6 2012-2022 |
Succeeded by Angus McKelvey (D) |
| Preceded by - |
Hawaii State Senate District 5 2002-2012 |
Succeeded by - |
