Shan Tsutsui

Shan Tsutsui

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Hawaii State Senate District 5

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Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii

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Education

High school

Maui High School, 1989

Bachelor's

University of Hawaii, Manoa, 1994

Personal

Profession

Financial Adviser

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Shan Tsutsui (b. August 9, 1971, in Wailuku, Hawaii) was the 12th lieutenant governor of Hawaii. A Democrat, he served from December 27, 2012, to January 31, 2018. Governor Neil Abercrombie (D) appointed Tsutsui to the role after former Lt. Gov Brian E. Schatz's (D) resigned to join the U.S. Senate. He won his first full, four-year term on November 4, 2014.

Tsutsui was elected lieutenant governor alongside state Sen. David Ige, the Democratic nominee for governor. Tsutsui had expected to share the ticket with Abercrombie in the general election, but Ige defeated Abercrombie in the primary.

On January 29, 2018, Tsutsui announced that he would resign as lieutenant governor on January 31, 2018, to join Strategies 360, a public affairs, strategic communications, and research firm. He said in a statement, "With a grateful, yet heavy heart I am announcing today that I will be resigning as the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawaiʻi, effective January 31, 2018. Over the past 15 years, it has been my honor and privilege to have served the people of Hawaiʻi, first as a State Senator from Maui and Senate President, and currently as your Lieutenant Governor. Throughout that time, I have always been mindful of the tremendous responsibility that comes with public office. I have greatly appreciated the trust and confidence that was bestowed upon me and have done my best to build a better Hawaiʻi through collaboration and hard work, while honoring our shared core values of honesty, integrity and respect."

Tsutsui is a former member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing District 4 from 2002 to 2012. He was Senate President from 2011 to 2012 and also served as the majority caucus leader.

Prior to entering politics, Tsutsui was a financial adviser, businessman, and consultant.

Biography

Tsutsui's professional experience includes working as a financial adviser for Manulife Financial from 1994 to 1996, for Prudential Securities from 1996 to 1998, and for the Union Bank of Switzerland Paine Webber from 1998 to 2004. In 2001, Tsutsui became a co-owner and operator for Keiki Time. He also began working as a director of marketing and partner for Hawaii Investment Securities in 2005. Additionally, he worked as a business consultant for Atlas Insurance Agency, Incorporated.

Education

Tsutsui earned a B.A. in economics from the University of Hawaii-Manoa in 1994.

Political career

Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii (2012-2018)

Tsutsui became the 12th Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii on December 27, 2012. The office was left vacant following Brian E. Schatz's (D) appointment to the U.S. Senate by Gov. Abercrombie on December 26, 2012.

Per the Hawaii Constitution, the state Senate president, which at the time was Tsutsui, is the next in line for the lieutenant governorship. Initially, Tsutsui indicated that he might not want the job.

Hawaii State Senate (2002-2012)

Tsutsui served in the Hawaii State Senate from 2002 to 2012.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Tsutsui served on these committees:

• Legislative Federal Economic Stimulus Program Oversight Commission
• Joint Legislative Investigating Committee to Oversee the Investigation of the Department of Budget and Finance’s Handling of the State’s Investment in Student Loan Auction Rate Securities

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Tsutsui served on these committees:

• Committee on Education and Housing, Hawaii Senate
• Committee on Tourism, Hawaii Senate
• Committee on Ways and Means, Hawaii Senate

Elections/Appointments

2014

See also: Hawaii Lieutenant Gubernatorial election, 2014

Tsutsui ran for election as lieutenant governor of Hawaii in 2014. Tsutsui went public with the news of his candidacy on May 31 via his campaign website and Facebook page. Tsutsui secured the Democratic nomination in the primary on August 9, 2014. He faced Republican Elwin Ahu, Independent Les Chang, and Libertarian Cindy Marlin in the general election on November 4, 2014.

Results

Primary election

Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Shan Tsutsui Incumbent	53.7%	120,779
Clayton Hee	36.1%	81,255
Mary Zanakis	8.1%	18,174
Miles Shiratori	1.2%	2,593
Sam Puletasi	0.9%	2,126
Total Votes		224,927
Election results via Hawaii Division of Elections.

General election

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David Ige/Shan Tsutsui	49.5%	181,065
	Republican	Duke Aiona/Elwin Ahu	37.1%	135,742
	Independent	Mufi Hannemann/Les Chang	11.7%	42,925
	Libertarian	Jeff Davis/Cindy Marlin	1.7%	6,393
Total Votes				366,125
Election results via Hawaii Office of Elections

Polls

Hawaii Lieutenant Governor, Democratic Primary
Poll	Shan Tsutsui*	Clayton Hee	Mary Zanakis	Miles Shiratori	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Hawaii News Now Poll July 2014	36%	34%	7%	2%	21%	+/-4.6	458
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

2012

Lieutenant Governor

Tsutsui was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii on December 27, 2012.

State Senate

See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2012

Tsutsui won re-election in the 2012 election for Hawaii State Senate District 5. Tsutsui ran unopposed in the August 11 Democratic primary as well as in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.

2010

See also: Hawaii State Senate elections, 2010

Tsutsui won re-election to the 4th District seat in 2010. He had no primary opposition on September 18, 2010. Tsutsi defeated Eric Seibert (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Hawaii State Senate, District 4 General election, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Shan Tsutsui Incumbent	77.8%	10,931
	Republican	Eric Seibert	22.2%	3,113
Total Votes				14,044
Election results via Hawaii Division of Elections

2006

On November 7, 2006, Tsutsui won re-election to the Hawaii State Senate from Hawaii's 4th Senate District. Tsutsui ran unopposed in the general election. He raised $82,210 for his campaign.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Shan Tsutsui campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2014	Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii (joint ticket with David Ige)	Won	$3,755,161	N/A**
2012	Hawaii State Senate District 5	Won	$119,400	N/A**
2010	Hawaii State Senate District 4	Won	$89,606	N/A**
2006	Hawaii State Senate District 4	Won	$82,210	N/A**
2002	Hawaii State Senate District 4	Won	$53,455	N/A**
Grand total			$4,099,832	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

2016 Democratic National Convention

See also: Democratic National Convention, 2016

Shan Tsutsui
Democratic National Convention, 2016
Status:	Superdelegate
State:	Hawaii
Supporting:	Hillary Clinton
Delegates to the DNC 2016
Calendar and delegate rules overview • Types of delegates • State election law and delegates • Superdelegates by state

Tsutsui was a superdelegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention from Hawaii. Tsutsui was one of 10 superdelegates from Hawaii. Superdelegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were not bound by the results of their state’s primary or caucus to support a specific presidential candidate. Tsutsui supported Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination. Clinton formally won the Democratic nomination for president on July 26, 2016.

Hawaii caucus results

See also: Presidential election in Hawaii, 2016

Bernie Sanders won the Hawaii Democratic caucus, beating Hillary Clinton 70 to 30 percent. Sanders' win in Hawaii marked his third victory of the evening on March 26. He also won caucuses in Washington and Alaska. Twenty-five pledged delegates were up for grabs in the Democratic caucus.

Hawaii Democratic Caucus, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes	Delegates
Bernie Sanders	69.8%	23,530	17
Hillary Clinton	30%	10,125	8
Other	0.2%	61	0
Totals		33,716	25
Source: The New York Times and CNN

Delegate allocation

See also: 2016 presidential nominations: calendar and delegate rules

Hawaii had 34 delegates at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Of this total, 24 were pledged delegates. National party rules stipulated how Democratic delegates in all states were allocated. Pledged delegates were allocated to a candidate in proportion to the votes he or she received in a state's primary or caucus. A candidate was eligible to receive a share of the state's pledged delegates if he or she won at least 15 percent of the votes cast in the primary or caucus. There were three types of pledged Democratic delegates: congressional district delegates, at-large delegates, and party leaders and elected officials (PLEOs). Congressional district delegates were allocated proportionally based on the primary or caucus results in a given district. At-large and PLEO delegates were allocated proportionally based on statewide caucus results.

Ten party leaders and elected officials served as unpledged delegates. These delegates were not required to adhere to the results of a state's primary or caucus.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Tsutsui and his wife, Lyndelle, have three children.

External links

• Legislative profile from Project Vote Smart
• Biography from Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Brian E. Schatz (D)	Hawaii Lieutenant Governor 2012–2018	Succeeded by Doug Chin (D)
Preceded by Rosalyn Baker (D)	Hawaii State Senate District 5 2012–2012	Succeeded by NA
Preceded by -	Hawaii State Senate District 4 2002–2012	Succeeded by Malama Solomon (D)