Senator Mazie Hirono (Kalista Marandas) was elected Senate Majority Leader on Friday, October 7th with a 9-6 vote in the Democratic caucus.
In many ways, Hirono is a Senator of firsts. She is the first woman Senator from Hawaii, the first immigrant-born Senator from Japan, the first Buddhist Senator. Hirono is also an efficient and consciously bipartisan change for the position of Majority Leader.
“Division is the biggest threat in democracy, our Congress, our party.”
One of Hirono's biggest priorities is working across the aisle to promote efficiency in the Senate. “I’m dedicated to making personal relationships with each Senator so that we will be able to understand each other better and understand how we can pass legislation that will make everyone happy.”
Hirono hopes to collaborate with Republicans to pass legislation regarding veterans, citing veterans affairs as one of the many issues “where both Democratic and Republican interests align.” Hirono is passionate about helping veterans, since there is a large military presence in her home state of Hawaii. She hopes to pass mental health legislation specifically for veterans and work to get citizenship for all veterans, specifically for Filipino-American veterans.
Senator Hirono also hopes to work with Republicans to codify Roe v. Wade. Hirono says “I’m very adamant that I want a Republican name on a Roe v. Wade bill because I know that there are constituents out there living in Republican communities that want abortion [to be legal].” She has already spoken with a few Republican senators who plan to cosponsor such a bill.
“A united front is one of the most important things.”
Senator Hirono sits on the judiciary committee. She has served on this committee and its subcommittees for many years, pointing to her experience practicing law and her experience as an immigrant as her primary motivators for joining the committee. In her time on the committee, Hirono says that “[she] would love to look and dive deeper into immigration policies and reforming the immigration system that [she] believe[s] is broken.” She hopes to focus on both immigration and clean energy in the judiciary committee.
Across party lines, Senator Hirono is an admired leader. Senator Bob Menedez (Alejandra Smith-Gil) believes that Hirono is “moving [the Senate] into an efficient and effective direction.” Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (Alex Pacheco) says “I think she’s going to take a very active role and not a passive role that other previous caucasus have been.” Minority leader Mitch McConnell (Ryan Gilbert) was also happy to see Senator Hirono elected majority leader:
“I think it was a good decision and a good, tactical choice for the Democratic party to
move with that as opposed to other more left-leaning candidates that would be highly
divisive for their party, so I applaud them for their political savviness and I look forward to
working with the Senator from Hawaii.”
Hirono also looks forward to working with Mitch McConnell, hoping to discuss veterans affairs and other bipartisan bills with him.
Hirono is excited to represent her state in her new position along with immigrants, women, and Asian Americans. In a passionate statement, Hirono says “We’re a representative democracy. We’re here because people trust the laws that dictate their lives in our hands. We need to think less about how we can benefit from passing legislation and more of how can the country benefit from passing legislation.”
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