Cedric Solosolo Asuega Gates is a Democratic member of the Hawaii House of Representatives, representing District 44. He was first elected to the chamber in 2016.

Early life and education

Gates is of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

and American Samoan descent. His mother, Easter Asuega Gates, died in 2006, and his father, William Gates, died in 2014. According to members of his family, he is the great-grandson of Solosolo Mauga Asuega, who was High Chief of

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

. Gates attended Waianae High School, and later enrolled at

Leeward Community College Leeward Community College is a public community college in Pearl City, Hawaii. It is one of 10 campuses of the University of Hawaii system and is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. Leeward's open admissi ...

. In 2013, he was honored by Governor Neil Abercrombie as an Outstanding Advocate for Children and Youth.

Political career

In 2014, Gates ran as a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate in District 44, losing to

Jo Jordan Georgette "Jo" Jordan (born May 5, 1962) is the former Democratic representative of the 44th House District of the Hawaii House of Representatives, which includes Wai‘anae, Mākaha, Makua, and parts of Māʻili on the island of Oahu. Jord ...

. In 2016, Gates ran against Jordan, this time in the Democratic primary. Gates' 2016 candidacy was controversial, as his 2014 candidacy as a

candidate was supposed to have barred his nomination as a Democrat under

Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii ( haw, ʻAoʻao Demokalaka o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention ...

rules. Nevertheless, Gates defeated incumbent Jo Jordan in the District 44 Democratic primary, and went on to defeat Marc Pa'aluhi in the general election. During the 2016 campaign, his campaign posters were vandalized with a racial slur. Upon taking office at age 23, he became the youngest member of the state legislature. After completing his first term in office, Gates was reelected in 2018 and 2020.

References

External links

Biography
at

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

African-American men in politics American people of Samoan descent Living people Hawaii Greens Democratic Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians {{Hawaii-politician-stub