Scott Jiu Wo Kawasaki (born March 20, 1975) is an American healthcare professional and politician from

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he is a member of the

Alaska Senate The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gub ...

representing the state's District A, which includes neighborhoods within the city limits of

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the po ...

Early life and education

Scott Kawasaki was born in Tokyo, Japan while his parents Koji and Virginia Kawasaki taught internationally. The family returned to Fairbanks in 1980, where he has lived ever since. Kawasaki attended public schools in Fairbanks before earning a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences from the

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for cla ...

in 2006.

Career

Kawasaki was elected to the Fairbanks City Council in 1999. At age 24, he was one of the youngest members ever to serve on that body. He served on the Fairbanks City Council for two consecutive terms from 1999 till 2005. Kawasaki was elected state representative for House District 9, in 2006, defeating Republican incumbent Jim Holm by 2617 votes (55 percent) to 2118 (45 percent). He had previously run in 2004, losing to Holm by 52 votes. Kawasaki was reelected in 2008 defeating Republican challenger Sue Hull. He was the youngest member of the legislature at that time. Kawasaki defeated Republican nominee Joseph Michel in the 2010 election. In 2012, in District 4, he narrowly beat David Pruhs, with 51-47% of the vote. In 2014, he beat Gregory Bringhurst with 55% of the tally, and was unopposed in 2016. Prior to the appointment of

Sam Kito III Sam Kito III (born 1964) is an American politician from Alaska. A Democrat, he served in the Alaska House of Representatives as one of two representatives from Juneau since his appointment in 2014 until 2019. A lobbyist and civil engineer by tra ...

in 2014, Kawasaki was the only

Asian American Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous people ...

currently serving in the Alaska Legislature. Kawasaki ran against incumbent Senator Pete Kelly in 2018, winning with 50.79% of the vote.2018 Election Results
''Alaska Division of Elections'', November 6, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2019. The Fairbanks-North Star Borough Assembly's Presiding Officer Kathryn Dodge filed to run as a Democrat for the House seat Kawasaki had held. She lost by one vote.
'' Fairbanks News-Miner'', Matt Buxton, May 30, 2017. Retrieved 1 June 2017.

References

External links

*
Alaska State Legislature – Representative Scott Kawasaki
official government website
Project Vote Smart – Representative Scott J. Kawasaki (AK)
profile * ''Follow the Money'' – Scott Kawasaki *
20062004
campaign contributions
Alaska's Democratic Caucus – Scott Kawasaki
profile
Scott Kawasaki
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kawasaki, Scott 1975 births 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians Alaska city council members Asian-American city council members Democratic Party Alaska state senators American politicians of Japanese descent Asian-American people in Alaska politics Living people Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives Politicians from Fairbanks, Alaska Politicians from Tokyo University of Alaska Fairbanks alumni