Lynn Pualani DeCoite (born July 24, 1970) is a member of 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 ...

for District 7, appointed by 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 ...

to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of Senator

J. Kalani English Jamie Kalani English is a former American politician and was a Democratic member of the Hawaii State Senate representing District 7. English served consecutively from 2001 until 2013 in the District 5 and District 6 seats. English resigned his ...

. Prior to her appointment, DeCoite was a member of the Hawaii House of Representatives for District 13, since having been appointed by Governor

to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of the late Representative Mele Carroll after the 2015 legislative session began. A former member of the Hawaii State Board of Agriculture, she resigned her position when appointed. District 13 is a rural district encompassing parts of

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 ...

on three inhabited islands: * Parts of Maui island:

Haiku is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...

, Hāna,

Kaupo Kaupō is a district of ancient Hawaii (''moku'' in the Hawaiian language) of Maui island in Hawaii. Kaupō is a remote, sparsely populated, sustainable ranching community. Geography Kaupō is located along the southeastern shore of Maui, west ...

Kīpahulu Kīpahulu is an unincorporated community in the Hāna district of southeastern Maui, Hawaii. Location and access Kīpahulu is unincorporated and is located south of Hana and east of Kaupo. The only land access to the area is from the north by Ha ...

, Nahiku, Pāʻia * All of

Lānaʻi Lanai ( haw, Lānai, , , also ,) is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is colloquially known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple pl ...

, and * All of

Molokaʻi Molokai , or Molokai (), is the fifth most populated of the eight major islands that make up the Hawaiian Islands archipelago in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It is 38 by 10 miles (61 by 16 km) at its greatest length and width with a us ...

The district also represents the uninhabited islands of Kahoolawe and

Molokini Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small, uninhabited islet located in ʻAlalākeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, within Maui County in Hawaii. It is the remains of one of the s ...

. DeCoite is a resident of Hoolehua, Molokai and owns L&R Farm Enterprises and RJ Snacks. DeCoitte has been appointed to five House committees: * Agriculture * Economic Development & Business * Finance * Tourism * Veterans, Military, & International Affairs, & Culture and the Arts

Controversy

Representative DeCoite has been an advocate for cockfighting, which is illegal in Hawaii, and has supported the recognition of cockfighting as a cultural activity. In testimony to the state house prior to her appointment, she testified that ending cockfighting could cause global warming and have other impacts: "These animals will fight with out humans that is there common nature. Humans have altered some many things in the world that we have become our worst enemies. That has been linked to climate change. If we keep making to many changes we will destroy ourselves, and the life forms that exist around us."

References

Women state legislators in Hawaii Hawaii Democrats 1964 births Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians {{Hawaii-politician-stub