Ann Kobayashi (born April 10, 1937) is an American politician and businesswoman from

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

. She is a member of the

Honolulu City Council Honolulu City Council is the legislature of the City and County of Honolulu, the capital and largest city in Hawai'i, the fiftieth state in the United States. The City and County of Honolulu is a municipal corporation that manages government asp ...

, representing District 5 since 2009. She previously held the same City Council seat between 2002 and 2008, but resigned from the seat to unsuccessfully run for

Mayor of Honolulu The mayor of Honolulu is the chief executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu. An office established in 1900 and modified in 1907, the mayor of Honolulu is elected by universal suffrage of residents of Honolulu to no more than two four ...

against incumbent

Mufi Hannemann Muliufi Francis Hannemann (born July 16, 1954) is an American politician, businessman, and non-profit executive. He was elected twice as Mayor of Honolulu in 2004 and 2008. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C., with t ...

. She was also a member of the

Hawaii Senate The Hawaii Senate is the upper house of the Hawaii State Legislature. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the membe ...

between 1981 and 1994.

Personal life

Ann Kobayashi was born April 10, 1937, in Honolulu to Mori and Florence Hayashi. She grew up with her brother Roy Hayashi near

Punchbowl Crater Punchbowl Crater is an extinct volcanic tuff cone located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It is the location of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The crater was formed some 75,000 to 100,000 years ago during the secondary activity of the Hon ...

, later moving with her family to Nu‘uanu Valley. Kobayashi graduated from

President Theodore Roosevelt High School President Theodore Roosevelt High School is a public, co-educational college preparatory high school in Honolulu, Hawai'i. It is operated by the Hawaii State Department of Education and serves grades nine through 12. Roosevelt High School is accre ...

before attending

Pembroke College in Brown University Pembroke College in Brown University was the coordinate women's college for Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1891 and merged into Brown in 1971. Founding and early history The founding of the Women's College Ad ...

and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. She was married to Paul Kobayashi until their divorce, and has three children.

Political career

From 1981 to 1994, Kobayashi represented the

Manoa Mānoa (, ) is a valley and a residential neighborhood of Honolulu, Hawaii. The neighborhood is approximately three miles (5 km) east and inland from downtown Honolulu and less than a mile (1600 m) from Ala Moana and Waikiki at . Neighbo ...

area in the

. During that time, she was chairwoman of the State Senate's Ways and Means Committee for two years. In 1994, Kobayashi ran for

but lost. In 1997, she was the Executive Assistant to Mayor Jeremy Harris, and from 1997 to 2002 she worked in the State Executive office as a Special Assistant to Governor

Ben Cayetano Benjamin Jerome Cayetano (born November 14, 1939) is an American politician and author who served as the fifth governor of the State of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United State ...

. In 2002, Kobayashi successfully ran for Honolulu City Council District 5. She gave up her council seat in 2008 when she again ran for Mayor of Honolulu. She lost the election, and her council seat was won by Duke Bainum, who ran unopposed. Bainum, however, died on June 9, 2009, leaving the council seat vacant. The special election that was held resulted in Kobayashi being declared the winner on August 8 with more than 37 percent of the vote.

References

External links

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Oral history interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobayashi, Ann 1937 births American women of Japanese descent in politics Hawaii Democrats Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Hawaii Republicans Hawaii state senators Honolulu City Council members Living people Women state legislators in Hawaii Women city councillors in Hawaii President Theodore Roosevelt High School alumni Asian-American city council members 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians