Neil Abercrombie

Neil Abercrombie
7th Governor of Hawaii
In office
December 6, 2010 – December 1, 2014
LieutenantBrian Schatz
Shan Tsutsui
Preceded byLinda Lingle
Succeeded byDavid Ige
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Hawaii's 1st district
In office
January 3, 1991 – February 28, 2010
Preceded byPat Saiki
Succeeded byCharles Djou
In office
September 20, 1986 – January 3, 1987
Preceded byCecil Heftel
Succeeded byPat Saiki
Member of the Honolulu City Council
In office
1988–1990
Member of the Hawaii Senate
In office
1980–1986
Member of the
Hawaii House of Representatives
In office
1975–1979
Personal details
Born (1938-06-26) June 26, 1938 (age 86)
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
(m. 1981)
EducationUnion College (AB)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (MA, PhD)
Signature

Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014.[1] He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a graduate of Union College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. He began his political career in 1975, winning a seat in the Hawai'i House of Representatives. He served in the Hawai'i House until 1979, when he was elected to the Hawai'i State Senate. Upon the resignation of Cecil Heftel, who resigned from the U.S. House of Representatives to run for governor, Abercrombie was elected to his vacant seat in a special election in 1986, but lost the Democratic primary for a full term on the same day. Abercrombie served the remainder of Heftel's term until January 1987. He served on the Honolulu City Council from 1988 to 1990 before returning to Congress in 1991. Abercrombie served nine consecutive terms in the House from 1993 to 2010, representing Hawai'i's 1st congressional district, consisting of urban Honolulu.

With incumbent Governor Linda Lingle prevented from running for reelection due to term limits, Abercrombie declared his candidacy for governor in March 2009. In September 2010 he won the five-candidate Democratic primary with 59% of the vote. Abercrombie went on to face Republican nominee, Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona, in the general election. On November 2, 2010, Abercrombie and running mate Brian Schatz defeated Aiona with 57% of the vote. Abercrombie was sworn into office on December 6, 2010. In 2014, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by state senator David Ige, who went on to win the general election.

  1. ^ Kerr, Keoki (April 29, 2013). "Abercrombie launches re-election campaign as GOP opponents mull running against him". Hawaii News Now. Retrieved May 2, 2014.