Warren T. Furutani (born October 16, 1947) is an American politician who served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

from 2008 to 2012. He is a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

and a fourth-generation

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

. Furutani was elected in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

in 2008. He replaced

Laura Richardson Laura Richardson (born April 14, 1962) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2013. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She previously represented the 55th district in the California State Assembly for ...

in California's 55th State Assembly district. Prior to being elected, he served on the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...

and then the

Los Angeles Community College District The Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) is the community college district serving Los Angeles, California, and some of its neighboring cities and certain unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Its headquarters are in Downtown Lo ...

Board of Trustees. He was the first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD in 1987 and became the board's president in 1991.

Education

Furutani graduated from

Gardena High School Gardena High School (GHS) is a public high school in Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, California, United States, adjacent to the City of Gardena. It serves grades 9 through 12 and is a part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Small Learning Co ...

in 1965. He attended several

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...

s and earned a B.A. degree from Antioch University.

Activism

During the mid-1960s, Furutani became more politically minded due to the social climate of the nation at the time, in large part because of his own family's history. He became a civil rights activist and became involved in what were to become the early stages of the

Asian American Movement The Asian American movement was a sociopolitical movement in which the widespread grassroots effort of Asian Americans affected racial, social and political change in the U.S, reaching its peak in the late 1960s to mid-1970s. During this period Asia ...

. Furutani worked tirelessly to establish admissions programs for students of color at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He helped many campuses establish ethnic studies programs and was instrumental in UCLA and Long Beach State University adopting an Asian American Studies program.

Early career

He was one of 150 people to make the first organized

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

to Manzanar in December 1969. In 1970, Warren helped to create the Manzanar Committee that worked to get Manzanar designated as a national historical site.

Career

Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he served on the

and then the

Board of Trustees. In 1987, he became the first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD and was the board's president in 1991. Furutani was elected in a

in 2008 to the California State Assembly. He replaced

, who won a special election to replace

Juanita Millender-McDonald Juanita Millender-McDonald (September 7, 1938 – April 22, 2007) was an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1996 until her death in 2007, representing California's 37th congressional distr ...

as the member of the US House of Representatives from California's 37th district. He served until 2012 and did not run for re-election after that.

Electoral history

Controversy

On June 15, 2011, during an Assembly debate on a redevelopment bill, Assemblyman Donald Wagner remarked that the bill was like something he had "seen on

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

" and likened the author of the bill to Tony Soprano. After Assemblyman Anthony Portantino told Wagner to apologize for the remarks, Wagner replied that he would "apologize to any Italian-American who is NOT in the Mafia or involved in insurance scams". Within seconds, a verbal confrontation erupted on the Assembly floor between Wagner and Furutani and the two had to be separated.http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/california-budget-assembly-furutani-wagner.html

Personal life

He and his wife, Lisa, are residents of Gardena, California.

References

External links

Campaign website

"Warren Furutani"
by Karen Inouye, ''Densho Encyclopedia''
Join California Warren Furutani
{{DEFAULTSORT:Furutani, Warren T. 1947 births Living people American politicians of Japanese descent California politicians of Japanese descent Antioch University alumni Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly People from Gardena, California School board members in California 21st-century American politicians Gardena High School alumni