Linda Lingle

In 2002, Linda Lingle became the first Republican elected Governor of Hawai'i in forty years. She was also the first woman and first of the Jewish faith.

Linda Lingle (born Linda Cutter June 4, 1953) has been Governor of Hawai'i since being sworn in on December 2, 2002.

Lingle holds several distinctions: first Republican) elected governor in Hawai'i in forty years since the departure of William F. Quinn in 1962, first county mayor elected governor in Hawai'i, first female elected governor in Hawai'i and first governor of the Jewish faith in Hawai'i. During the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City, Lingle served as chairwoman of the convention during the absence of permanent chairman Dennis Hastert from the convention floor.

Previous to her gubernatorial administration, Lingle served as Maui County mayor, councilmember and was elected chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party.

Early years

Born Linda Cutter in St. Louis, Missouri, Lingle moved with her family to Southern California when she was 12. She graduated from Birmingham High School in Lake Balboa, California, then received her bachelor's degree in journalism cum laude from California State University, Northridge in 1975.

Soon after, she followed her father to Hawaii, working first in Honolulu as a public information officer for the Teamsters and Hotel Workers Union. Later, she moved to Molokai, where she started the Molokai Free Press, a community newspaper which became a big hit.

County politics

In 1980, Lingle was elected to the Maui County Council, where she served five two-year terms. Lingle served three of those terms representing Molokai and two terms as an at-large member. Upon the 1990 retirement of Hannibal Tavares as mayor of Maui County, Lingle decided to challenge former Maui mayor and Hawai'i State Speaker of the House of Representatives Elmer Cravalho for the seat. Despite polls showing Lingle trailing far behind her Democratic opponent, Lingle proved victorious. The Honolulu Advertiser and Honolulu Star-Bulletin newspapers declared the election one of the biggest upsets in Hawai'i political history. She became the youngest person elected to the office at the age of 37, as well as the first woman. In 1994, Lingle easily won re-election.

Maui County, under the leadership of Mayor Lingle, implemented performance-based budgeting. Its successful passage and execution earned for Lingle the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for four years. Mayor Lingle was also credited for attracting tourism and job growth to Maui County during a period when the state tourism industry was struggling.

1998 gubernatorial campaign

Lingle would once again attempt an upset victory, this time in pursuit of the governor's office in 1998. Barred from seeking a third term as mayor, Lingle was nominated by the Hawai'i Republican Party to run against incumbent Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano. Republican party members believed that Lingle was the best shot at the office and that 1998 would probably be the only chance the party would have of ever winning. Lingle capitalized on the anger of Hawai'i residents over the stagnant economy and their dissatisfaction with the strategies employed by the Democrats in attempt to solve the problem. Cayetano trailed in the media polls heading into the November election but on the evening of the election, Cayetano and Lingle were separated by a single percentage point forcing a recount. Lingle was defeated in the closest election in Hawai'i history.

Republican leadership

After being defeated, Lingle was elected chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party. She served from 1999 to 2002. During her tenure as party chairman, Lingle overhauled party policies and gave the party a facelift she believed was needed to make the party competitive in a historically Democrat-dominated state. Internal reforms proved successful and Lingle succeeded in electing more Republicans to seats in both houses of the Hawai'i State Legislature. At the peak of Republican success, the party held 19 of the 51 seats in the state House of Representatives. Party membership grew as younger people joined. Republicans gained a more youthful appearance and had reinvented itself informally as the new GOP Hawai'i.

2002 gubernatorial campaign

Barred from seeking a third term, Cayetano announced his retirement from political service in 2002. Having become even more popular among Hawai'i residents, Lingle was nominated as the Republican candidate for the office of Governor of Hawai'i. As Hawai'i Democrats nominated incumbent Lieutenant Governor Mazie K. Hirono, national focus turned to Hawai'i as it set up one of the only woman versus woman gubernatorial races in United States history.

Lingle ran on her Agenda for New Beginnings, a specially crafted campaign platform developed to promote Republican leadership and highlighted the failures of forty years of Democratic administration of the state. It also cited differences between the Lingle message and older, more conservative platforms Hawai'i Republicans had advocated for decades. Most importantly Agenda for New Beginnings was a call for across-the-board government reform, something Hawai'i residents had been clamoring for as the Hawai'i economy continued to tank.

Focusing less on her mayoral accomplishments and more on the message of reform, Lingle won the election alongside former state judge James Aiona, who became Lingle's lieutenant governor.

First term as governor

Lingle enjoyed high approval ratings, usually around the 70% range, but her popularity had its limits. Lingle spent much of 2004 campaigning for state legislative candidates (the legislature has a Democratic supermajority and she wanted to have enough members to block them from overriding her vetoes) and for President George W. Bush on the "mainland" (the states outside of Hawaii and Alaska). When some polling late in the election showed Bush tied or narrowly leading Democrat John Kerry, Lingle jumped at the chance to help the Republicans carry her state for the first time since 1984. Vice President Dick Cheney even campaigned in the state. Ultimately, not only did Kerry win the state, but Republicans lost 5 seats in the state legislature, reducing their presence to near single-digits and causing the Democrats to consider Lingle more vulnerable than they initially expected. In spite of their new confidence, Lingle is still considered the odds-on favorite for her 2006 reelection campaign.

Family life

Lingle was married and divorced twice. She married her first husband while in college. Upon leaving California for Hawai'i, she divorced him but kept the Lingle name. During her term as mayor of Maui County, Lingle divorced her second husband, Maui attorney William Crockett. Lingle is currently single and does not have any children of her own.

See also

• Washington Place

External links

• State of Hawai'i Office of Governor (http://gov.state.hi.us)
• State of Hawai'i Republican Party (http://www.gophawaii.com)
• Article on Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle (http://www.midweek.com/coverstory/coverstory010505.html)