Linda Lingle
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| Linda Lingle | |
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December 2, 2002 – |
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| Lieutenant Governor: | James Aiona |
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| Predecessor: | Benjamin J. Cayetano |
| Successor: | Incumbent |
| Born: | June 4, 1953 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Political party: | Republican |
| Profession: | Newspaper Publisher |
| Religion: | Judaism |
Linda Lingle (born Linda Cutter on June 4, 1953) has been Governor of Hawaiʻi since being sworn in on December 2, 2002.
Lingle holds a few distinctions: first Republican elected governor in Hawaiʻi in forty years since the departure of William F. Quinn in 1962, first county mayor elected governor in Hawaiʻi, first female elected governor in Hawaiʻi, first Jewish governor in Hawaiʻi; the first twice-divorced governor of Hawaiʻi; and the first not to have any children. During the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, Lingle served as chairwoman of the convention during the absence of permanent chairman Dennis Hastert from the convention floor.
Previous to her gubernatorial administration, Lingle served as Maui County mayor, councilmember, and chaired the Hawaiʻi Republican Party.
Her uncle founded the Cutter Ford car dealerships in Hawaiʻi. [1]
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[edit] Early years
Born Linda Cutter in St. Louis, Missouri, Lingle moved with her family to Southern California when she was 12. She graduated from Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, California, then received her bachelor's degree in journalism cum laude from California State University, Northridge in 1975.
Soon after, she followed her father to Hawaiʻi, working first in Honolulu as a public information officer for the Teamsters and Hotel Workers Union. Later, she moved to Molokaʻi, where she started the Molokaʻi Free Press, a community newspaper which became a big hit.
[edit] County politics
In 1980, Lingle was elected to the Maui County Council, where she served five two-year terms. Lingle served three of those terms representing Molokaʻi and two terms as an at-large member. Upon the 1990 retirement of Hannibal Tavares as mayor of Maui County, Lingle decided to challenge former Maui mayor and Hawaiʻi State Speaker of the House of Representatives Elmer F. Carvalho for the seat. Despite polls showing Lingle trailing far behind her Democratic opponent, Lingle proved victorious. The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspapers declared the election one of the biggest upsets in Hawaiʻi political history. She became the youngest person elected to the office at the age of 37, as well as the first woman. In 1994, Lingle easily won re-election.
Maui County, under the leadership of Mayor Lingle, implemented performance-based budgeting. Its successful passage and execution earned for Lingle the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for four years. Mayor Lingle was also credited for attracting tourism and job growth to Maui County during a period when the state tourism industry was struggling.
[edit] 1998 gubernatorial campaign
Lingle would once again attempt an upset victory, this time in pursuit of the governor's office in 1998. Barred from seeking a third term as mayor, Lingle was nominated by the Hawaiʻi Republican Party to run against incumbent Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano. Republican party members believed that Lingle was the best shot at the office and that 1998 would probably be the only chance the party would have of ever winning. Lingle capitalized on the anger of Hawaiʻi residents over the stagnant economy and their dissatisfaction with the strategies employed by the Democrats in attempt to solve the problem. Cayetano trailed in the media polls heading into the November election but on the evening of the election, Cayetano and Lingle were separated by a single percentage point forcing a recount. Lingle was defeated in the closest election in Hawaiʻi history.
The state Democratic Party was accused, although there was no evidence, of launching a whispering campaign that alleged that Lingle was a lesbian, and that because she was Jewish, she would abolish Christmas as a state holiday. [2]
[edit] Republican leadership
After being defeated, Lingle was elected chair of the Hawaiʻi Republican Party. She served from 1999 to 2002. During her tenure as party chair, Lingle overhauled party policies and gave the party a facelift she believed was needed to make the party competitive in a historically Democrat-dominated state. Internal reforms proved successful and Lingle succeeded in electing more Republicans to seats in both houses of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature. At the peak of Republican success, the party held 19 of the 51 seats in the state House of Representatives. Party membership grew as younger people joined. Republicans gained a more youthful appearance and had reinvented itself informally as the new GOP Hawaiʻi. Governor Lingle is a member of The Wish List The Nation's largest fundraising and campaign political action committee for Pro-choice Republican Women and The Republican Majority For Choice.
[edit] 2002 gubernatorial campaign
Barred from seeking a third term, Cayetano announced his retirement from political service in 2002. Having become even more popular among Hawaiʻi residents, Lingle was nominated as the Republican candidate for the office of Governor of Hawaiʻi. As Hawaiʻi Democrats nominated incumbent Lieutenant Governor Mazie K. Hirono, national focus turned to Hawaiʻi as it set up one of the few woman versus woman gubernatorial races in United States history.
Lingle ran on her Agenda for New Beginnings, a specially crafted campaign platform developed to promote Republican leadership and highlight the perceived failures of the previous forty years of Democratic administration of the state. It also cited differences between Lingle's message and previous, more conservative platforms Hawaiʻi Republicans had advocated.
Focusing less on her mayoral accomplishments and more on the message of reform, Lingle won the election alongside former state judge James Aiona, who became Lingle's lieutenant governor.
[edit] First term as governor
Lingle enjoyed high approval ratings, usually around the 70% range, but her popularity had its limits. Lingle spent much of 2004 campaigning for state legislative candidates (the legislature has a Democratic supermajority and she wanted to have enough members to block them from overriding her vetoes) and for President George W. Bush on the "mainland" (the states outside of Hawaiʻi and Alaska). When some polling late in the election showed Bush tied or narrowly leading Democrat John Kerry, Lingle jumped at the chance to help the Republicans carry her state for the first time since 1984. Vice President Dick Cheney even campaigned in the state. Ultimately, not only did Kerry win the state, but Republicans lost five seats in the state legislature, reducing their presence to near single-digits and causing the Democrats to consider Lingle more vulnerable than they initially expected. In spite of their new confidence, Lingle was re-elected after her 2006 re-election campaign.
As governor her greatest accomplishments are creating a record surplus of $730 million. Before that, the budget was in a $250 million budget deficit. She is also is creditied for developing a strong economy, leaving Hawaii with a very low unemployment rate. She is also popular for signing in the Three Strikes Law Bill and Sex Offender Registry Website. In education, she has attempted to divide the State Board of Education into seven local school boards, but has failed. Her biggest controversial issues is her practice of sending prisoners to the mainland which cost $50 million a year. Some state legistalors say she should build another prison to create more jobs, but Lingle says mainland prisons have better services.
''''''' 2006 Gubenetorial Election'''''''
In 2006 Governor Lingle announced her canidadcy for re-election as Governor of Hawaii. In the Democratic Party, many people were speculated to run, but many of them declinde.Some of these people were State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, Senate President Bobby Bunda, Congressman Ed Case (who ran for U.S Senate) , U.S Congressman Neil Abercrombie, and Big Island Mayor Harry Kim. Despite the difficulty of finding an opponent for Lingle, former State Senator Randy Iwase decided to run for Governor. In the primamry election he easily defeated Waiana HArbormaster William Aila Jr. His running mate was fromer Big Island State senator Malama Solomon. Over the course of the campaign, Iwase was considered an underdog who had only spent $340,000, compared to Lingle's $6 million dollars. In his ads, he consistenley atacked Lingle over her relationship with President Bush. At the end of the election, he was crushed by a huge margin.
[edit] Family life
Lingle was married and divorced twice. She married her first husband, Charles Lingle, while in college, in 1972. Upon leaving California for Hawaiʻi, she divorced him in 1975 but kept the Lingle name. During her term as mayor of Maui County, Lingle divorced her second husband, Maui attorney William Crockett, to whom she was married from 1986 to 1997. Lingle is currently single and does not have any children.
[edit] Electoral history
- 2006 Race for Governor
- Linda Lingle (R), 63%
- Randy Iwase 35%
- 2002 Race for Governor
- Linda Lingle (R), 52%
- Mazie K. Hirono (D), 47%
- 1998 Race for Governor
- Benjamin J. Cayetano (D) (inc.), 50%
- Linda Lingle (R), 49%
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Benjamin J. Cayetano |
Governor of Hawaiʻi 2002 – present |
Incumbent |
| Governors of Hawaii |  |
|---|---|
| Territorial: Dole • Carter • Frear • Pinkham • McCarthy • Farrington • Judd • Poindexter • Stainback • Long • King • Quinn
Quinn • Burns • Ariyoshi • Waihee • Cayetano • Lingle |
