HONOLULU — Patricia “Pat” Saiki, who represented Hawaii in Congress, died peacefully at her home on Sept. 30, according to her family. She was 96.
The first Republican elected to the House of Representatives from Hawaii since statehood, Saiki represented the 1st Congressional District (the urban areas of the City and County of Honolulu) from January 1987 to January 1991. The first Republican that Hawaii sent to Washington was Hiram Fong, who served in the Senate from 1959 to 1977.
Saiki was also the second woman from Hawaii to serve in the House after Democrat Patsy Takemoto Mink.
Saiki convinced her Republican colleagues to vote for legislation that provided redress payments and a formal apology to Japanese Americans who were incarcerated by the government during World War II. The bill was signed into law as the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 by President Ronald Reagan with Saiki and other Nikkei members of Congress present at the ceremony.
As an advocate for Hawaii, Saiki persuaded President George H.W. Bush in 1990 to end the Navy’s military testing on Kaho’olawe, an uninhabited island that had been used for decades by the military as a training ground and bombing range. In 1994, jurisdiction of the island was transferred to the State of Hawaii, which established the Kaho’olawe Island Reserve.
A former teacher, Saiki also focused on education-related issues.
Her support for women’s reproductive freedoms set her apart from the majority of GOP members.
Born Patricia Hatsue Fukuda in Hilo in 1930, she graduated from Hilo High School in 1948 and University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1952. She became a teacher at Punahou School, Kaimuki Intermediate School, and Kalani High School, as well as in Toledo, Ohio when she and her husband, Stanley Masami Saiki, moved there for his medical school residency.
In the early days of her political career, she is credited with forming the state’s first collective bargaining union for teachers, the Hawaii State Teachers Association. Saiki worked as a researcher for Hawaii State Senate Republicans and served roles in the state Republican Party in the mid-1960s, attended the 1968 Constitutional Convention, and that year won election to the Hawaii House of Representatives. She served in the House for six years, followed by election to the State Senate in 1974.
She left the Senate in 1982 to run for lieutenant governor on a ticket with gubernatorial candidate D.G. “Andy” Anderson. They lost to the incumbent Democratic governor, George Ariyoshi, and Lt. Gov. John Waihee III.
When Rep. Cecil Heftel resigned from Congress, a special election was held in 1986. Saiki lost the special election to Democrat Neil Abercrombie, but won the general election over Democrat Mufi Hannemann. When she ran for re-election in 1988, she beat Democratic challenger Mary Bitterman.
Saiki lost a U.S. Senate race to Democrat Daniel Akaka in 1990 but was appointed administrator of the Small Business Admininstration by President Bush, serving from 1991 to 1993. She later taught at Harvard University’s Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.
After losing race for governor of against Democrat Ben Cayetano in 1994, she chaired the Hawaii presidential campaign of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giulinai in 2008 and the congressional campaigns of Charles Djou in 2010 and 2012.
Saiki chaired the Hawaii Republican Party, most recently from 2014 to 2015.
In 2021, at the age of 91, she published her memoir, “A Woman in the House.” In a note from the author, she wrote, “I keep reminding myself that I first ran for office more than 50 years ago! A lot has changed in those five-plus decades, nationally and particularly in Hawaii. And as a result, there are now a couple of generations in Hawaii and the country for whom the important political battles of five decades ago, let alone one decade, is ancient history.
“I thought it would be important to share some of my story with the younger generations. They need to know that it’s possible to lead and bring about systemic change even in the face of overwhelming odds. They need to know that it’s important to be willing to step into the ring and lead, that change can result if you have courage, keep your focus, and are willing to fight the good fight. That’s the spirit of my memoir. I hope it inspires a new generation of civic-minded youth, particularly young women, to step forward and be counted.”
Gov. Josh Green ordered that the U.S. and Hawaii flags be lowered at sunrise on Oct 2 and flown at half-staff at the State Capitol, all state offices and agencies, and all Hawaii National Guard facilities through sunrise on Oct. 5 in honor of Saiki.
“Pat Saiki’s six decades of public service and her pioneering example for young women and Asian Americans in Hawaii and across the U.S., combine to form both a lasting, inspiring legacy and a high bar for all of us who serve the public,” said Green. “Jaime and I extend our deepest aloha and sympathy to the Saiki family, with heartfelt gratitude for the sacrifices made so she could help so many people.”
Praise from other elected officials:
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii): “I’m sorry to learn about the loss of former Congresswoman Patricia Saiki. Only the second woman elected to represent Hawaii in Congress; she spent her career advancing education at every level, fighting for Japanese Americans, and supporting reproductive freedoms. My thoughts and aloha go out to her family at this difficult time.”
Rep. Ed Case (D-Hawaii): “I join all of our Hawaii in remembering and honoring the life and legacy of U.S. Rep. Patricia (Pat) Saiki. She is rightly credited with many specific accomplishments. But above all she was a pioneer who broke barriers, easing the path for others that followed, and her decades of public service were marked by commitment to her country and Hawaii, determination, accomplishment, example and grace. Rep. Saiki was a worthy steward of the office of Hawaii’s 1rst Congressional District, setting a high bar for those that followed and will follow. I join in extending my sincere condolences and appreciation to her beloved family.”
House Speaker Nadine Nakamura (D-Hanalei-Princeville-Kapaa): “Many of us serving in government today are walking through doors Pat helped open. Her legacy will live on through the generations of women she inspired, and I am honored to be one of them.”
Senate President Ronald Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau): “Pat understood the importance of working across the aisle, finding common ground and focusing on what was best for the people of Hawaii. Her legacy of service will be remembered for generations to come.”
The American Lung Association of Hawaii, which presented Saiki with the 2021 Lung Association Breath of Motherhood Award, said, “Pat Saiki leaves behind a legacy of perseverance that shaped the future for our wahine, our entrepreneurs, and our ʻāina.”
The association credited Saiki with being “a driving force behind the successful passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Hawaii” and championing “federal legislation to ban environmentally devastating driftnet fishing.”
Predeceased by her husband and their son Stanley Mitsuo Saiki, Saiki is survived by her four children, Stuart Saiki, Sandra Saiki, Margaret Saiki and Laurie Saiki, and grandchildren. Services are pending and will be announced by the family.