Val Okimoto is an American politician and educator serving since November 29, 2022 as the 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 VIII. She is a former member and Minority Leader of 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 ...

, serving in that body from 2018 to 2022. Okimoto was elected to represent District VIII on the

, which is the legislative body of the

City and County of Honolulu Honolulu County (officially known as the City and County of Honolulu, formerly Oahu County) is a consolidated city–county in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The city–county includes both the city of Honolulu (the state's capital and largest city ...

, on November 8, 2022. She was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the November 8, 2022 resignation of the incumbent, who was elected to 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 ...

, on November 29, 2022. Okimoto previously served as the state Representative for District 36 and is a member of the Republican Party. Okimoto is a 2019 graduate of the

Council of State Governments The Council of State Governments (CSG) is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization in the United States that serves all three branches of state government. Founded in 1933 by Colorado state Sen. Henry W. Toll, CSG is a region-based forum that ...

West - Western Legislative Academy, and is a recipient of a 2020 ''Elected Women of Excellence Award'' from the

National Foundation for Women Legislators National Foundation for Women Legislators (NFWL) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt foundation established by the National Order of Women Legislators (NOWL) in the USA. Headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city in the nort ...

. She was elected to serve as Minority Leader on February 17, 2021.

Background

Okimoto was born in

Lihue, Hawaii Lihue or Līhue is an unincorporated community, census-designated place (CDP) and the county seat of Kauai County, Hawaii, United States. Lihue (pronounced ) is the second largest town on the Hawaiian island of Kauai after Kapaa. As of the 2010 ...

. She is of Japanese and Filipino descent. She graduated from high school with honors from

Kauai High School Kauai High School is a public high school located in Lihue, Hawaii. It is named after the island Kauai and is a part of the Hawaii Department of Education. Kauaʻi High School serves students from ninth through twelfth grades. It was the first pub ...

. Okimoto earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting with a minor in Business Management from Brigham Young University of Hawaii, and earned her Special Education Teacher Certification at

Chaminade University of Honolulu Chaminade University of Honolulu is a private Marianist university in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1955 by the Society of Mary, Chaminade is located in Kaimuki, Honolulu at the base of St. Louis Heights. Chaminade offers bachelor's degrees in ...

. Okimoto has done mission work for

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

Cebu, Philippines Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the P ...

. She is an active member of the community by serving as a Director and Treasurer of the Mililani Town Association (MTA), School Community Council (SCC) board member at Mililani ‘Ike Elementary School, member of the Board of Directors for Hoaloha ‘Ike, Parent and Coach for Mililani

American Youth Soccer Organization The American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) is one of the two main national organizations in youth soccer in the United States for children aged 4 through 19. AYSO was established as a non-profit soccer organization in Torrance (a suburb of Lo ...

(AYSO), and served for 4 years as the President of her church's chapter of a woman's organization.

Political career

Okimoto was elected to represent District 36 of the

, which includes Mililani Mauka,

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 ...

, and Waipiʻo Acres, on November 6, 2018. She was re-elected for a second term on November 3, 2020. On November 8, 2022, Okimoto was elected to represent District VIII on the Honolulu City Council. A social and fiscal conservative, Okimoto opposed gay marriage legislation in 2013 and bills supporting adoption rights for same-sex couples.

Electoral history

Committee assignments

;2021-2022 (31st Legislature) * Committee on Economic Development * Committee on Education * Committee on Higher Education & Technology * Committee on Labor & Tourism * Committee on Legislative Management (beginning February 17, 2021) ;2019-2020 (30th Legislature) * Committee on Agriculture (2019) * Committee on Lower & Higher Education * Committee on Tourism & International Affairs * Committee on Transportation (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okimoto, Val 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Mormon missionaries Living people Republican Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives People from Lihue, Hawaii Year of birth missing (living people) Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent American women of Japanese descent in politics Brigham Young University alumni Asian conservatism in the United States