Whitney T. Anderson (born 1931) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and businessman from Waimanalo, Hawaii. He is the younger brother of D.G. "Andy" Anderson. He served for a total of 20 years in both chambers of the

Hawaii State Legislature The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, the ...

. Anderson's first experience in Hawaiian politics resulted from working on brother Andy's various campaigns for City Council, the Hawaii State Legislature,

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 ...

and

Governor of Hawaii , insignia = Logo of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii.png , insigniasize = 110px , insigniacaption = Gubernatorial logo , flag = Flag of the Governor of Hawaii.svg , flagborder = yes , flagcaption = Standard of the Governor , image ...

. Anderson later worked on the campaigns of other prominent Hawaii Republicans, including Gov.

William F. Quinn William Francis Quinn (July 13, 1919 – August 28, 2006) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 12th and last governor of the Territory of Hawaii from 1957 to 1959 and the first governor of the State of Hawaii from 1959 to 1 ...

and gubernatorial candidate Randy Crossley. He was also extremely involved with the state Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs, having served as both Kailua Hawaiian Civic Club president and state Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs president. Anderson is the first state Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs president to lead an annual Club convention out-of-state. Whitney Anderson's first stint in public office came in 1978, when he won a State House seat representing

Kailua Kailua () is a census-designated place (CDP) in Honolulu County, Hawaii, United States. It lies in the North Koolaupoko, Hawaii, Koolaupoko District of the island of Oahu, Oahu on the windward and leeward, windward coast at Kailua Bay. It is i ...

. Anderson would hold the positions of House Minority Floor Leader and House Minority Leader. In 1992, after fourteen years in the State House, Anderson decided to vacate his seat to run for Mayor of Honolulu against incumbent Mayor

Frank Fasi Frank Francis Fasi (August 27, 1920 – February 3, 2010) was an American politician who was the longest-serving Mayor of Honolulu, Hawaii, serving for 22 years. He also served as a territorial senator and member of the Honolulu City Council. ...

in the GOP primary election. Anderson lost this election. In late 1994, longtime Windward Oahu Republican state Sen. Mary George announced her retirement in the middle of a four-year term. Democratic Hawaii Gov.

Benjamin J. 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 ...

made Whitney Anderson his first appointee to the State Legislature, selecting Anderson to fill the remaining two years of retiring George's term. Anderson ran for re-election to the

Hawaii State 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 member ...

in 1996, defeating former State House Vice Speaker Jackie Young in one of the year's most hotly contested races. Upon re-election to his state Senate seat, Anderson assumed the Senate Minority Leadership position, a position he held until his exit from the Senate in 2000. At the time of his departure from the Hawaii State Senate, Anderson was Hawaii's sole state senator of

native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, First Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians) ( haw, kānaka, , , and ), are the indigenous ethnic group of Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii ...

ancestry. Anderson's adopted ''

hānai ''Hānai'' is a term used in the Hawaiian culture that refers to the informal adoption of one person by another. It can be used as an adjective, such as "''hānai'' child", or as a verb to ''hānai'' someone into the family. In the Hawaiian cultu ...

'' son and grandson,

Ikaika Anderson Justin-Michael "Ikaika" Anderson (born February 5, 1978) is an American politician from the state of Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. Anderson formerly served as chair and presiding officer of the Honolulu City Council and councilmem ...

, was elected to 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 ...

as a councilmember in 2009 and announced his intention to seek the nomination of the Democratic Party for the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

for the urban core of

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 ...

in August 2013. In the 2006 elections, Anderson will seek an at-large seat on the

Office of Hawaiian Affairs The Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) is a self-governing corporate body of the State of Hawaii created by the 1978 Hawaii State Constitutional Convention. Background In 1893, pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the monarchy and formed the ...

Board of Trustees.

References

External links

Star Bulletin.com
Republican Party Hawaii state senators Republican Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Living people Native Hawaiian people Native Hawaiian politicians 1931 births {{Hawaii-politician-stub