Jill Tokuda
Jill Tokuda graduated from James B. Castle High School. Tokuda earned a B.A. in international relations from George Washington University in 1997. Her career experience includes working as the president of Kalliope LLC and the co-director of CyberHawaii. Tokuda has served as the external affairs director of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center.
Jill Tokuda served in the Hawaiʻi State Senate for 12 years, from 2006-2018, representing Kāneʻohe and Kailua on the Island of Oʻahu. During her tenure, she chaired the Ways and Means Committee, where she was responsible for balancing the state’s $14 billion budget and negotiating the final approval for fiscal measures at the Hawaiʻi Legislature. She also chaired the Labor, Education, Higher Education, and Agriculture and Hawaiian Affairs committees and served as majority whip.
Tokuda has extensive private sector experience as a small business owner of her own consulting practice. She provides strategic planning and communications, government relations, and program development support to some of Hawaiʻi’s most established foundations, nonprofit organizations, and businesses.
She is currently a co-director of CyberHawaii, an affiliate of CyberUSA, which supports workforce development in IT/cyber security/data science as well as works in the community with small businesses and nonprofits to be more cyber aware and resilient. She is also the external affairs director for the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center, focused on securing public and private support for both operations, and facility expansion on Maui.
Jill Tokuda serves on the Board of the Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative and is an Advisory Board member of the Hawaiʻi Budget and Policy Center. In 2004, Jill was a key founding member and organizer of the Patsy T. Mink PAC and has continued the PAC’s mission of supporting pro-choice Hawaiʻi Democratic women running for office.
A proud graduate of James B. Castle High School, Jill received her BA in international relations and a minor in Japanese studies from the George Washington University. Married to Kyle Michibata.
Tokuda is garnering the support of many local labor organizations and national organizations and entities, including EMILY’s List, Elect Democratic Women and Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC.[1]
Okonawa connection
In early March 2023 Denny Tamaki, the recently re-elected Governor of Okinawa, traveled to DC for a weeklong trip to lobby lawmakers and officials to reduce the disproportionate burden of US military bases in Okinawa, which hosts over 70% of US military presence in Japan. The Governor met with leading US officials including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other lawmakers and aides, as well as government officials, diplomats, and academics, to discuss the critical issues pertaining to the US bases and stress the need for diplomacy to ease tensions with China.
Tamaki told reporters he met with AOC for over 30 minutes to brief the Congresswoman on the local opposition against the construction of a new US base at Henoko. He explained the US and Japanese governments are ignoring the will of Okinawans through this construction, as well as noting that toxic PFAS chemical contamination of soil and water from the bases are worsening and require immediate studies by the US government. During the meeting, AOC indicated concern over these issues and expressed willingness to work together on a solution, including through potential legislation. She told the Okinawa Times that her office will review the contents of the meeting and consider what action is necessary.
During last week’s visit, Governor Tamaki also met with Senator Todd Young (R-IN) and Representative Jill Tokuda (D-HI), as well as aides of Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA), and the Senate Armed Services Committee. Other meetings including with State Department officials, the Japanese Ambassador, and DC think tank experts, sought to emphasize the need for constructive dialogue. A panel discussion co-hosted by the Quincy Institute, Okinawa Prefectural Government, and George Washington University, with Tamaki, professor Mike Mochizuki, and senior research fellow Michael Swaine, stressed the importance of addressing the issues with the bases and for the US to engage diplomatically in the Asia-Pacific, instead of escalating its already high military presence.
As US tensions with China continue to rise, Governor Tamaki asked lawmakers “to tell the US government to conduct diplomacy peacefully and relieve tensions to not bring war to Okinawa. With increased Japanese military spending, expanded US-Japanese joint military drills, and plans from Tokyo to station surface-to-air missiles in Okinawa, Tamaki instead brought to the US a message of diplomacy, urging dialogue over military buildup on the issue with Taiwan.
The Governor’s visit follows growing opposition to the US bases in Okinawa, including from organizations such as the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), as well as DSA state and local elected officials in the US who signed a recent letter outlining the issues and opposition to the bases.[2]
CPC PAC’s first-ever Executive Board
June 6, 2023, Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan (WI-02), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), and Jamie Raskin (MD-08) announced the CPC PAC’s first-ever Executive Board. The CPC PAC Executive Board will be comprised of Reps. Greg Casar, Lloyd Doggett, Maxwell Frost, Chuy Garcia, Delia Ramirez and Jill Tokuda.
“We are incredibly excited to have these exceptional progressives join the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC leadership as we prepare to bolster progressive power in Congress and win back the House majority in 2024,” said Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC Co-Chairs Mark Pocan, Pramila Jayapal, and Jamie Raskin. “These six talented CPC members bring a diverse range of experience to the CPC PAC Executive Board and the leadership they have demonstrated throughout their history of public service will enable the CPC PAC to build on the success of past cycles heading into one of the most consequential elections in our nation’s history.”[3]
2022 CPC new members
During an event at the AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington, D.C., Pramila Jayapal said that 15 of the 18 candidates the Congressional Progressive Caucus's political arm had won their elections as of Sunday, with another win potentially on the way.
“There’s no question this will be the most progressive Democratic Caucus in decades,” Jayapal said, adding that they will have over 100 members in the 118th Congress compared to their current membership of 99.
By the numbers: Jayapal was joined at the press conference by nearly a dozen incoming members.
They were: Morgan McGarvey (Ky.), Summer Lee (Pa.), Robert Garcia (Calif.), Shri Thanedar (Mich.), Maxwell Frost (Fla.) Jasmine Crockett (Texas), Jill Tokuda (Hawaii), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Greg Casar (Texas), Becca Balint (Vt.) and Jonathan Jackson (Ill.).[4]
Staff
Congresswoman-Elect Jill Tokuda announced her selection of top senior staff for Hawaiʻi’s Second Congressional District.
Leading the Washington, D.C. congressional office as Chief of Staff will be Wendy Clerinx, who has over 20 years of experience on Capitol Hill and in Washington, D.C. Tokuda also appointed Kendra Oishi, who has over two decades of public service experience in Hawai’i, as her District Chief.
Maui resident Deidre Tegarden will serve as Tokuda’s official transition aide.[5]
Resolution condemning socialism
Fedrary 2, 2023 House Republicans moved a Resolution condemning socialism and certain dictators.
The Resolution began:
- Whereas socialist ideology necessitates a concentration of power that has time and time again collapsed into Communist regimes, totalitarian rule, and brutal dictatorships;
- Whereas socialism has repeatedly led to famine and mass murders, and the killing of over 100,000,000 people worldwide;
- Whereas many of the greatest crimes in history were committed by socialist ideologues, including Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, Daniel Ortega, Hugo Chavez, and Nicolás Maduro;[6]
Eighty six Democrats voted no. Forteen voted "present" and six didn't vote.[7]
Representative Jill Tokuda voted "Nay".[8]
"China Initiative" letter
On January 22, 2024, Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY), U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and U.S. Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) led an effort to stop House GOP members from reinstating the China Initiative, a Trump-era program created in 2018 that purported to combat espionage but in effect targeted and profiled those of Chinese descent.
- The Department of Justice ended the program in 2022, after several of the alleged espionage and national security cases ended in acquittal, dismissal or were dropped altogether. But Republicans in Congress are now attempting to restart the program using a provision in a key House spending bill—at the same time that they are reviving racially motivated rhetoric against Chinese Americans.
- “Republicans are essentially pushing the Chinese Exclusion Act 2.0,” said Rep. Meng, First Vice Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
- “The Trump-era China Initiative fostered bigotry and discrimination against Asian Americans, particularly those with connections to China, while doing little to actually advance national security interests,” said Senator Hirono, Executive Board Member of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
- “The Trump-era China Initiative undermined our nation’s scientific innovation and global partnerships while perpetuating the ‘forever foreigner’ stereotype and ruining the careers and lives of the innocent scholars targeted for investigations solely because of their Chinese ancestry,” said Rep. Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.[9]
Other signatories included Senators Tammy Duckworth, Peter Welch, and Congressmembers Jake Auchincloss, Ami Bera, Andre Carson, Greg Casar, Kathy Castor, Jasmine Crockett, Lloyd Doggett, Adriano Espaillat, Bill Foster, Valerie Foushee, Chuy Garcia, Robert Garcia, Dan Goldman, Jimmy Gomez, Pramila Jayapal, Andy Kim, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Barbara Lee, Ted Lieu, Jim McGovern, Seth Moulton, Kevin Mullin, Jerry Nadler, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Andrea Salinas, Linda Sanchez, Adam Schiff, Tom Suozzi, Mark Takano, Jill Tokuda, Lauren Underwood.[10]
No to China committee
Sixty-five Democrats in the House of Representatives voted on Tuesday January 10, 2022, against creating a committee to investigate China and find ways to counter the communist country’s growing international influence.
The House overwhelmingly voted to create the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party on a 365 to 65 margin, in one of the first votes since the Republicans took control of the chamber.
However, even though some members did not vote, all 65 lawmakers who voted against the committee’s creation were Democrats, including Jill Tokuda.
Medicare for All
Cheryl Webb November 30, 2022.
"We’re SO thrilled to congratulate and welcome these new members of Congress who won their elections earlier this month on a platform of supporting Medicare for All!
Greg Casar - TX-35, Summer Lee - PA-12, Valerie Foushee - NC-04, Shri Thanedar - MI-03, Delia Ramirez - IL-03, Maxwell Frost - FL-10, Sydney Kamlager - CA-37, Robert Garcia - CA-42, Becca Balint - VT-at large, Morgan McGarvey - KY-03, Glenn Ivey - MD-04, Kevin Mullin - CA-15, Jill Tokuda - HI-02, Jonathan Jackson - IL-01, John Fetterman - Senator-elect, Pennsylvania, Peter Welch - Senator-elect, Vermont .
“The Avengers”
Tokuda, 46, does not consider herself a typical politician, at least by Hawaii standards.
In the state Senate, where she served from 2006 to 2018, she aligned herself with Colleen Hanabusa, who eventually would be elected to Congress, and was part of a faction known by her colleagues as “The Avengers.”
It was a small group that over time was made up mostly of lawmakers representing rural districts and the neighbor islands. Among them were Gil Keith-Agaran, Mike Gabbard, Russell Kokubun, Dwight Takamine and Kalani English, who recently pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges for taking bribes.
Tokuda said her faction primarily focused on policy, but also excelled at political strategy and the ability to count votes.[11]
Hirono support
Mazie Hirono founded the Patsy Mink Political Action Committee.
“After Patsy’s death, I went to John Mink to get his permission to use her name,” says Hirono. “We raise money to help Democratic, pro-choice women running for state office in Hawaii.”
Hirono cites freshman state Sen. Jill Tokuda as one of the successful candidates the committee supported in 2006.[12]
Giraffe Award
Giraffe Award: Patsy T. Mink PAC recognizes a person, who has fought for women’s rights within their respective field, occupation, or community.
2007: Congresswoman Mazie Hirono and Senator Jill Tokuda.[13]