Heather Haunani Giugni is an American filmmaker, politician, and a former representative in the

Hawaii House of Representatives The Hawaii House of Representatives is the lower house of the Hawaii State Legislature. Pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of Hawaii, amended during the 1978 constitutional convention, the House of Representatives consis ...

. She represented District 33, comprising the

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 ...

neighborhoods of

Aiea The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 195 ...

and

Halawa Halawa () is a census-designated place (CDP) in the ‘Ewa District of Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. Halawa Stream branches into two valleys: North and South Halawa; North Halawa is the larger stream and fluvial feature. Their conflue ...

. She was appointed to the legislature in February 2012, and left office in January 2013.

Early life and career

One of four sisters, Giugni comes from a family of Hawaii public servants. Her great-grandfather was appointed in 1897 to a judgeship in the Ewa District. Her father, Henry Giugni, was a longtime confidant to U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye, eventually becoming

sergeant-at-arms A serjeant-at-arms, or sergeant-at-arms, is an officer appointed by a deliberative body, usually a legislature, to keep order during its meetings. The word "serjeant" is derived from the Latin ''serviens'', which means "servant". Historically, s ...

of the United States Senate. His work with Inouye led to the family moving to Washington. Heather Giugni attended

Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

before attending the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism. She worked for

KGMB KGMB (channel 5) is a television station in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, serving the Hawaiian Islands as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside NBC affiliate KHNL (channel 13) and Kailua-Kona–licensed Telemundo affi ...

news from 1982 to 1986, when she founded Juniroa Productions, her own film-making company. She has produced and directed documentaries, including ''

Under a Jarvis Moon ''Under a Jarvis Moon'' is a 2010 documentary film about the young men, mostly of Hawaiian origin, sent in the 1930s and 1940s to colonize the Line Island of Jarvis and the Phoenix Islands of Howland and Baker. Directed by Noelle Kahanu and ...

'' (2010) alongside

Noelle Kahanu Noelle M.K.Y. Kahanu is a Native Hawaiian academic, curator, writer, and lawyer. A former director of community affairs at the Bishop Museum, she directed the 2010 documentary film ''Under a Jarvis Moon'', about the young Hawaiian men sent to work o ...

. She has also created

public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

, training videos, oral histories, Internet and interactive content.

Political career

In 1972, Giugni served as a delegate to the

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in Miami, where she was the youngest delegate. In November 2011, the majority leader of the

Blake Oshiro Blake Oshiro (born January 16, 1970) is an American politician and lawyer. From 2011 to 2014, he served as deputy chief of staff to the Governor of Hawaii Neil Abercrombie. Oshiro previously served as Majority Leader of the Hawaii House of Repre ...

, announced that he would resign from the legislature to become Governor

Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a graduate of Union College and the ...

's deputy chief of staff. Per Hawaii law, Governor Abercrombie had to select Oshiro's successor as state representative from the 33rd district. His replacement, former state representative and majority leader Tom Okamura, had to resign just weeks later due to health reasons. Abercrombie appointed Giugni to the seat in February 2012. She took office on February 21, 2012. She ran for the seat in 2012, where she faced a Democratic primary challenge from state representative

Mark Takai Kyle Mark Takai (July 1, 1967 – July 20, 2016) was an American politician from the state of Hawaii who served in the United States House of Representatives, representing , from 2015 to 2016. He served in the Hawaii House of Representatives ...

, whose district got combined with Giugni's as a result of

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

. In the Democratic primary election held on August 11, 2012, Takai defeated Giugni.

References

External links

Legislative homepageCampaign website
Democratic Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives LGBT Native Hawaiians LGBT state legislators in Hawaii Living people American lesbians Lesbian politicians University of Maryland, College Park alumni American filmmakers Women state legislators in Hawaii Kamehameha Schools alumni Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women politicians {{Hawaii-politician-stub