Hawaii elects first openly trans state lawmaker

In a surprising turn of events, transgender human rights activist Kim Coco Iwamoto defeated one of Hawaii's most influential politicians, state House Speaker Scott Saiki, in the Democratic primary election on Saturday.

With no Republican candidate in the race, Iwamoto has been elected to represent House District 25, becoming Hawaii’s first openly trans state legislator.

This victory marks Iwamoto's third attempt to win the urban Honolulu district, following two close contests against Saiki in 2020 and 2022, where she lost by fewer than 200 votes each time. In Saturday’s primary, she secured a win with a margin of 254 votes, as per the latest results released by the secretary of state—a margin exceeding 5 percent.

Iwamoto was driven to challenge Saiki for the seat due to a perceived lack of transparency in Hawaiian politics and concerns that everyday issues were being overlooked by Democratic Party leaders.

A significant motivating factor for Iwamoto was the state’s minimum wage. While the wage is set to increase to $18 (approx. £14) per hour by 2028, as per a bill passed in 2022, she criticised Saiki for refusing to consider a bill to raise the wage from $10.10 (approx. £7.9) per hour back in 2020.

“[Saiki] met with the Chamber of Commerce before the session and he held a press conference stating the legislature will not be taking up the issue of raising the minimum wage. I asked my friends who are representatives, did he ask you guys how you felt about not raising the minimum wage from a poverty wage to a living wage? And they said no,” Iwamoto told the ‘Los Angeles Blade’.

“That made me very angry. He should’ve met with people who are living paycheck to paycheck to learn how their lives are impacted.”

Iwamoto believes Hawaiians are fed up with politicians prioritising wealthy interests over their constituents.

Image Credit: Canva

“Pay to play politics is rampant, and it’s blatant and obvious,” Iwamoto says. “It’s an open festering wound on the face of democracy in Hawaii. Through the fact of just sheer people-powered campaigning, I was able to get above Saiki’s vote.”

Iwamoto identifies as a fourth-generation American of Japanese descent. Her great-grandparents worked on the sugarcane plantations of Kauai. She studied at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and earned a BA in creative writing at San Francisco State University, as well as a law degree from the University of New Mexico.

Her experiences as a foster parent and raising her 11-year-old daughter inspired her to run for the state board of education in 2006, making history as the first openly trans person elected to statewide office in the U.S.

“Back in 2006, it was international news when Hawaii elected me to that statewide position. I got requests for interviews around the world. That election did trigger a lot of people of trans experience to see that they could run for office, where their gender identity and experience is just one aspect of who they are,” she says.

“More importantly, I think the lesson here is listen to the voters. It’s what the voters are concerned about. In my case, it was consumer protections for condo owners, safer streets for pedestrians and bicyclists, resources for homeless people who are sleeping on our sidewalks.”

Hawaii has long been considered one of the most progressive states regarding legislation protecting the LGBTQ+ community, a fact that Iwamoto values.

“My opponent was there for 30 years, and he was an ally to the LGBT community,” she says. “What he ignored was the overrepresentation of the LGBT people within the homeless community, within the working community.”

“We are part of every marginalized experience. Whether it’s minimum wage earners, the homeless population, LGBT are overrepresented in youth homelessness, and that persists in cycles.”

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