Colleen Hanabusa, a former U. S. representative from Hawaiʻi and a longtime state political figure, died Thursday at 74 after a private battle with cancer. Gov. Josh Green ordered the U. S. and Hawaiʻi flags flown at half-staff at the Hawaiʻi State Capitol, all state offices and agencies, and all Hawaiʻi National Guard facilities in her honor until sunrise Monday (ET).
What Colleen Hanabusa’s career reveals about power in Hawaiʻi politics
Colleen Hanabusa served twice in the U. S. House of Representatives, from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. Before Congress, she served as a state senator from 1999 to 2010, representing a district on Oʻahu’s Waiʻanae Coast, where her family had long resided. Her rise inside the Legislature culminated in a history-making role: she became the first woman to serve as President of the Hawaiʻi State Senate, holding the post for two years.
Her influence was not limited to electoral office. She chaired the State Salary Commission, and in more recent years she led the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the oversight body for the city’s rail project. She resigned that position in September, later described as a departure for health reasons.
In the current reactions, state leadership emphasized public service and barrier-breaking. Gov. Josh Green called her a leader who “dedicated her life to serving the people of Hawaiʻi, ” citing her roots on the Waiʻanae Coast and her work in both the Hawaiʻi State Capitol and the U. S. Congress.
How Colleen Hanabusa shaped the Honolulu rail fight—and what it cost politically
Colleen Hanabusa’s connection to the Honolulu rail system ran through her federal and local roles. After returning to Congress in 2016 following the death of U. S. Rep. Mark Takai, she championed the Honolulu rail system. Later, she became chair of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation and took a critical stance toward rail management, positioning herself as a force pushing the project toward completion under intense scrutiny.
Her tenure at the rail authority intersected with the project’s financing pressures. As chair, she helped salvage the federal funding agreement for the rail project. In 2023, she rode the rail system she had long fought for, describing a single overriding aim: “the completion of rail. ”
Those rail battles unfolded alongside her broader political trajectory, which included a string of high-profile runs that did not succeed. She ran unsuccessfully for the U. S. Senate in 2014, for Hawaiʻi governor in 2018, and for mayor of Honolulu in 2020, finishing third in the primary. In the 2020 mayoral contest, she endorsed eventual winner Rick Blangiardi, who returned her to the HART board.
What officials and analysts are saying as flags fly at half-staff
Gov. Josh Green’s order placed flags at half-staff across state facilities and Hawaiʻi National Guard sites until sunrise Monday (ET), formalizing a statewide gesture of mourning. In his statement, Green highlighted her record of “decades advocating for her community with strength, determination and heart, ” and said her “legacy of leadership and public service will continue to inspire generations to come. ”
In political analysis, University of Hawaiʻi political science professor Colin Moore, identified as a political analyst, described a defining trait of her influence: her strength was often “more internal than public-facing, ” with power “more as an inside strategist than a public communicator. ” That characterization aligns with a career marked by pivotal internal fights and institutional roles, from legislative leadership to contentious oversight of rail.
Her political story also included moments that drew statewide attention. Within months of her 1998 state Senate election, she demanded a recount of the gubernatorial race that Ben Cayetano narrowly won over Linda Lingle. She later organized the Senate’s ouster of Cayetano’s Attorney General Margery Bronster after Bronster forced out the politically connected trustees of the Bishop Estate.
Another turning point came in 2012. As U. S. Sen. Daniel Inouye was dying, he asked Gov. Neil Abercrombie to appoint Hanabusa to his seat; Abercrombie instead chose his lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz. Moore called it a “momentous” moment in Hawaiʻi politics and said it represented a rejection of the Inouye era. Hanabusa later lost her 2014 bid to take the Senate seat from Schatz.
Hanabusa, an attorney, is survived by her husband, John Souza.
