Mike Gabbard

Life and pre-political career

Mike was the fourth of seven children born to Benjamin Harrison Gabbard, Jr. and Agnes Yandall Gabbard. He was born in Fagatogo, American Samoa and became a naturalized U.S. citizen at one year old. He graduated from Choctawhatchee High School class of 1965 in Shalimar, Florida. He received his BA degree in English from Sonoma State University, and his master's degree in Adult Education with an emphasis in Community College Administration from Oregon State University. He and his wife Carol, who served from 2000 to 2004 on the Hawai'i State Board of Education, are the parents of five children and grandparents of eight.

In 1995, Mike Gabbard founded the nonprofit Stop Promoting Homosexuality America, which filed for the trade name Alliance For Traditional Marriage, "to educate the general public about the necessity of preserving traditional marriage". As of June 2011, Gabbard was still against same-sex marriage and civil unions. Gabbard served as president until the organization's involuntary dissolution in 2004.

Political career and related activities

Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council in a nonpartisan race in 2002. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Second Congressional District of Hawaii in the United States House of Representatives.

On March 21, 2006, Gabbard announced his plans to run for the Hawaii State Senate in West Oahu's District #19, a seat then held by 14-year incumbent Senator Brian Kanno. Kanno then decided not to run for reelection. On November 7, 2006, Gabbard defeated retired Honolulu police captain George Yamamoto by a 56% to 44% margin to represent the district in the Hawaii State Senate. Gabbard was sworn in on January 17, 2007.

Mike is the founder/chairman of Stand Up For America (SUFA), a non-profit educational organization that promotes patriotism and aims to "increase our awareness of our identity as citizens of one nation under God." SUFA maintained public Christmas lights displays in 2004 and in 2006 that specifically celebrated the Christian origins of Christmas, "as a reminder of what the Christmas season is really all about." The Stand Up For America site came under criticism in September 2010 for promoting Gabbard's daughter's campaign for the Honolulu City Council, and took down a page in question.

Mike founded and is also the co-chairman of Healthy Hawai'i Coalition (HHC), a non-profit group whose twofold purpose is to protect the environment and to improve individual and community health. HHC has been very active in schools across the state of Hawai'i teaching watershed protection. In 2007, he co-founded the Aloha Parenting Project (APP) with his wife Carol. APP is a grassroots non-profit organization that educates, supports, and helps parents raise children to become responsible, productive members of our community. SUFA hosted John Rosemond at an APP event on November 6, 2007.

On August 30, 2007, Gabbard switched from the Republican Party of Hawaii to the Democratic Party of Hawaii. His stated reason for doing so was that he believed that he could be more effective to his constituents as part of the majority party in the State Senate, where Democrats have long had a supermajority. This switch in parties has been of some controversy, including repeated complaints regarding his opposition to the Democratic Party of Hawai'i's platform, and possible actions that may impact other Democrats.

On November 2, 2010, Gabbard was re-elected for a second term in the Hawai'i State Senate after defeating Republican Aaron Bonar by a 74% to 26% margin. He is currently the Chair of the Energy & Environment Committee. He's also a member of the Judiciary & Labor, Transportation & International Affairs, and Education committees.

He was the Chair of the Energy & Environment Committee from 2009 to 2015, culminating with his leadership on the passage of a first-in-the-nation law to require Hawai`i utilities to get 100% of their electricity from clean renewable energy sources by 2045. In 2016, he was Chair of the Water, Land, and Agriculture Committee and championed a law he authored that bans the sale of any part or product of endangered species, such as elephant ivory. He's currently the Chair of the Agriculture and Environment Committee and is focused on increasing local food production, implementing his initiative to establish an industrial hemp pilot program under the Hawai’i Department of Agriculture and stopping the spread of invasive species.

On November 6, 2012, Gabbard defeated Republican candidate, Dean Capelouto, to represent the newly reapportioned district, Hawaii State Senate District 20, by a margin of 72% to 28%.

During the 2016 election cycle, Gabbard was unopposed and was re-elected to the Hawaii State Senate for a 4-year term on November 8, 2016.

Since being elected in 2006, Gabbard has authored 32 bills that became law, including legislation related to energy efficiency, renewable energy, endangered species protection, industrial hemp, the environment, and public safety.