Lauren Kealohilani Cheape Matsumoto (born August 16, 1987) is an American politician and beauty pageant titleholder who has served as a member of the Hawaii State House from Hawaii's 45th District since 2012. Matsumoto represents Schofield, Mokuleia, Waialua,

Kunia Kunia Camp (also called Kunia) is an unincorporated community on the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies along Hawaii Route 750 northwest of downtown Honolulu, the county seat of Honolulu County. Its elevation is ...

, Waipio Acres, and her hometown of

Mililani Mililani () is a city located near the center of the island of Oahu in Honolulu County, Hawaiʻi, United States. It consists of two census-designated places, Mililani Town, with a population of 28,121 at the 2020 census, and Mililani Mauka, wi ...

in the

Hawaii State 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 consists ...

. She holds the title of

Miss Hawaii The Miss Hawaii competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the State of Hawaii in the Miss America pageant, and the name of the title held by that winner. Hawaii first competed at Miss America in 1948 and has twice won the M ...

2011, and competed in the

Miss America 2012 Miss America 2012, the 85th Miss America pageant, was held at the Theatre for the Performing Arts of Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada on Saturday, January 14, 2012. Miss America 2011, Teresa Scanlan fro ...

pageant in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. She was born and raised in Mililani, Hawaii.

Personal life

Matsumoto was born Lauren Kealohilani Cheape and raised in

, where she attended Mililani Waena Elementary, was a member of the first class to attend Mililani Middle School, and graduated from

Mililani High School Mililani High School is the only public high school located in Mililani Town CDP,2000 Map: - Compare to addresses of schools. City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. on the island of Oahu. Serving an enrollment of over 2,600 students in grade ...

. She participated in many activities, including the jump rope team, volleyball, swimming, water polo, and the symphonic ensemble. Cheape graduated from

University of Hawai'i A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Academy for Creative Media with a B.A. in film production and minored in both Business and Japanese. Her first experience with the legislature was with her documentary, ''Farm Grown,'' which helped pass the Feed Subsidy Bill. Cheape was a four-year Division I scholar-athlete at the University of Hawai‘i as a Wahine Water Polo player. She was also a member of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and initiated the C.A.R.E. (Collegiate Athletes Reaching Everyone) program, which uses student-athletes to encourage youth to excel in academics and participate in athletics. Cheape earned an MBA from

Hawaii Pacific University Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in downtown Honolulu, Makapuʻu and Kāneʻohe, Hawaii. HPU is the largest private university in the central Pacific, most noted for its diverse student body of nearly 5,000 students, re ...

in May 2015. In July 2013, Cheape married Scott Matsumoto, a firefighter for the

Honolulu Fire Department The Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) provides fire protection and first responder emergency medical services to the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Honolulu. Founded on December 27, 1850, by K ...

, and changed her name to Lauren Matsumoto. The pair met at their church, One Love, where they are active members. Their first child, Noah, was born in August 2017.

Beauty pageants

Matsumoto competed at Miss Hawaii 2011 as Miss East Oahu. Her talent was a jump rope routine, which she took up after seeing a jump rope team perform at her school. Her platform is C.A.R.E.: Collegiate Athletes Reaching Everyone. She won the Miss Hawaii title on her fourth try. She represented Hawaii at the

National Sweetheart Miss National Sweetheart is a United States beauty pageant created in 1941 where runners-up from the Miss America state pageants are invited to Hoopeston, Illinois to compete for the title of Miss National Sweetheart, and the name of the title held ...

2010 pageant, a spot she earned by placing 2nd runner-up to Miss Hawaii 2010. She was named a Quality of Life Finalist and won the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals Award for most money raised in the country, which benefited

Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children Kapiolani Medical Center for Women and Children is part of Hawaii Pacific Health's network of hospitals. It is located in Honolulu, Hawaii, within the residential inner-city district of Makiki. Kapiolani Medical Center is Hawaii's only children ...

, at the

pageant.

Political career

Matsumoto ran a successful campaign for election in 2012 to the newly formed District 45 of the Hawaii State House on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

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 ...

. District 45 comprises Matsumoto's hometown of Mililani as well as Schofield,

Wheeler Wheeler may refer to: Places United States * Wheeler, Alabama, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, California, an unincorporated community * Wheeler, Illinois, a village * Wheeler, Indiana, a ...

, Mokuleia, and Waialua. She ran unopposed in the primaries as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate. Matsumoto campaigned on expanding local agriculture, strengthening education, improving the local economy, and advocating for responsible environmental policies. Matsumoto was hospitalized with

occupational burnout According to the World Health Organization (WHO), occupational burnout is a syndrome resulting from chronic work-related stress, with symptoms characterized by "feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion; increased mental distance from one’s ...

for two weeks during her first term in office.

References

External links

Campaign websiteOfficial legislative website
* Official Website - www.RepMatsumoto.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Matsumoto, Lauren Living people University of Hawaiʻi alumni People from Honolulu County, Hawaii Miss America 2012 delegates 1987 births Miss America Preliminary Talent winners Republican Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Women state legislators in Hawaii 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Beauty queen-politicians American beauty pageant winners Asian conservatism in the United States Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent