Kaniela Ing
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Mark Kaniela Saito Ing (born December 24, 1988) is an American politician and community organizer who was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 11th District, representing south
Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
from November 7, 2012 until November 6, 2018. He unsuccessfully ran to represent Hawaii's 1st District in 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 ...
in the 2018 federal election. Since January 2023, Ing has served as national director for the Green New Deal Network. Ing has also served as Climate Justice Director for People’s Action where he leads national campaigns to combat climate change. He serves on various coalitions including the United National Frontline Table, Climate Power Advisory Board, and the Hawai’i Community Bail Fund’s board of directors.


Early life

Ing was born and raised in Hawaii. Ing attended
Kamehameha Schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...
Maui,
Maui Community College The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, which ...
, the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and
American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
in Washington D.C. Ing served as UH student-body president, as a neighborhood board member, and has worked in various capacities with Hawaii's business, government, and the non-profit sectors prior to assuming public office. Ing's father died when Ing was a child. Ing worked as a harvester in the pineapple fields as a young teenager.


Hawaii State House of Representatives (2012(–2018)

Ing was elected to serve the 11th House District (South Maui:
Kihei Kihei ( haw, Kīhei, ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Maui County, Hawaii, Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 21,423 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Geography Kihei is located at (20.759122, −156.45722 ...
, Wailea, Makena) as a first-time candidate in 2012. Ing won the Democratic primary election, and overtook three opponents, carrying 43% of the vote. Ing then defeated Republican incumbent George Fontaine in the general election with 61% of the vote to the incumbent's 35%. Ing was re-elected in the 2014 primary and general elections. In 2016, Ing faced Primary challenger, Deidre Tegarden, an aide to former Hawaii Governor Neil Abercrombie. Ing prevailed with 61% of the vote to his opponent's 34%.


Marriage equality and LGBT rights

In November 2013, then-Governor Neil Abercrombie convened a special election for the purpose of conducting public hearings to consider the adoption of a law that would legalize marriage for same-sex couples in Hawaii. Ing supported the legislation, delivering a speech during the final floor vote in the House in which he spoke about how the murder of
Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Pou ...
impacted him as a young man and led to his eventual recognition of the need for equal rights for LGBT Americans despite his Christian background.


Same-day and automatic voter registration

In 2013 and 2014, Ing introduced a bill to provide for a same-day voter registration law. With the support of
Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...
, the
League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV or the League) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan political organization in the United States. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include registering voters, providing voter information, and advocating for vot ...
, and Faith Action for Community Equity (FACE), the revised bill passed and was signed into law on July 1, 2014. The law has allowed voters to register and vote during a single visit at all early-polling places in Hawaii starting in 2016, and at all polling places on election day starting in 2018.


Mark Zuckerberg's quiet title action

In 2016, Facebook founder
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born ) is an American business magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding the social media website Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.), o ...
purchased 700 acres of beachfront land on the island of
Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest island ...
. Zuckerberg initiated
quiet title Quiet may refer to: * Silence, a relative or total lack of sound In music * The Quiett (born 1985), South Korean rapper * ''Quiet'' (album), a 1996 John Scofield album * "Quiet", a song by Lights, from her album '' The Listening'' (2009) * "Qui ...
and
adverse possession Adverse possession, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Common law, Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have title (property), legal title to a piece of property—usuall ...
lawsuits against a number of Native Hawaiian families who held "Kuleana" land rights within his 700-acre Kauai property. Ing called for mediation and community outreach and quipped that "in Hawaii... we don't initiate conversation by filing a lawsuit against our neighbors." Ing argued that the legal mechanisms Zuckerberg attempted to use were predatory by nature as they have been used historically to "displace Native Hawaiians from their ancestral lands." Zuckerberg ultimately dropped the lawsuits and offered an apology.


2016 arrest

In January 2016, Ing was cited for failure to produce proof of insurance for a vehicle he owned. On July 16, 2016, he failed to appear in court in this case and was subsequently arrested. A subsequent court date was scheduled.


Campaign spending violations

On June 20, 2018, the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission approved a $15,422 administrative fine based on allegations that Ing filed 23 consecutive inaccurate reports during the period of May 2011 to December 2016. In total, Ing was given notice of 31 campaign spending violations, with records showing his campaign accounts were used to pay rent to landlords and a credit card bill. One commissioner sought to refer the matter to criminal prosecution, the other four commissioners disagreed and voted that the violations were not criminal and did not require prosecution, stating "there are not enough good politicians" and that criminal prosecution would have been fatal to Ing's political career. On July 20, 2018, Ing fired his accountant after determining his accountant inadvertently filed the wrong version of his campaign finance report on July 15. The original report, which was quickly corrected on July 16, identified a $262,830 cash balance. The corrected report corrected the balance to $100,847. The accountant confirmed his mistake in a subsequent release. On August 28, 2023, Ing pled no contest to a criminal charge made by the Honolulu Prosecutor's office of failure to timely file a supplemental report with the Campaign Spending Commission.


Campaign for Hawaii's first congressional district

In November 2017, Ing announced his intention to run for Hawaii's 1st congressional district, where incumbent Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa was retiring to
challenge Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...
Governor
David Ige David Yutaka Ige (; born January 15, 1957) is an American politician and engineer who served as the eighth governor of Hawaii from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he served in the Hawaii State Senate from 1995 to 2014 and the Hawaii House of Represen ...
in the Democratic primary for
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 ...
. Ing's candidacy received widespread attention and support from the
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * L ...
, receiving the endorsement of the
Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...
, Justice Democrats,
Our Revolution Our Revolution (sometimes known by its initials OR) is an American progressive political action organization spun out of Senator Bernie Sanders's 2016 presidential campaign to continue its work. The organization's mission is to educate vote ...
, the Democratic nominee for New York's 14th congressional district
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (; ; born October 13, 1989), also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of th ...
, California Congressman Ro Khanna and Washington Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal. He received attention for his campaign ads and his pledge for universal housing. Ing finished fourth in the Democratic primary, won by former Congressman Ed Case. He drew 7,531 votes, or 6.3%.


Current work

In January 2023, Ing was announced as the first-ever national director for the Green New Deal Network. He was a founding member of the organization, which works to campaign for local
Green New Deal Green New Deal (GND) proposals call for public policy to address climate change along with achieving other social aims like job creation and reducing economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic refo ...
policies and public support for climate justice. Ing also co-leads Our Hawaii Action, a progressive super PAC. In 2022, Our Hawaii Action raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in an unsuccessful effort to unseat U.S. Rep. Ed Case due to criticism of Case's perceived lack of support for climate legislation in President Biden’s
Build Back Better Plan The Build Back Better Plan or Build Back Better agenda was a legislative framework proposed by U.S. president Joe Biden between 2020 and 2021. Generally viewed as ambitious in size and scope, and even after it was reduced in size, it became the ...
. In August 2023, Our Hawaii Action set up the Maui Community Power Recovery Fund to support victims of the 2023 Maui fires, but concerns were raised about donations potentially going to support political candidates.


See also

*
List of Democratic Socialists of America who have held office in the United States The following American politicians are members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and have held elected or appointed office in the United States. The DSA is a political nonprofit organization and not a political party, therefore DSA m ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ing, Kaniela 1988 births Living people Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Hawaii Democratic Party members of the Hawaii House of Representatives University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni American University alumni 21st-century American politicians Hawaii politicians of Japanese descent Hawaii politicians of Chinese descent Native Hawaiian politicians Maui Community College alumni