Mike Gabbard

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Mike Gabbard
Member of the Hawaii State Senate from the 19th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 2006

Born	January 15, 1948 (1948-01-15) (age 60) Fagatogo, American Samoa
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Carol
Profession	educator, businessman
Religion	Roman Catholic

Gerald Michael 'Mike' Gabbard is a Democratic member of the Hawaii Senate, representing the 19th District since 2006. He has social conservative political views and rose to prominence for his successful effort to ban the legalization of same-sex marriage through an amendment to the Hawaii State Constitution in 1998. He is also a businessman and musician.

1 Life and pre-political career
2 Political career and related activities
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Life and pre-political career

Mike was the fourth of seven children born to Benjamin Harrison Gabbard, Jr. and Agnes Yandall Gabbard. He received his BA degree in English from Sonoma State University, and his master's degree in Adult Education with an emphasis in Community College Administration from Oregon State University. He is a father of five children and grandfather of six. He and his wife, Carol, who served from 2000-2004 on the Hawaii State Board of Education, operate a small family business with several lines of natural health products. They also make and distribute Hawaiian Toffee Treasures.

[edit] Political career and related activities

Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council in a nonpartisan race in 2002. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully in a race as a Republican for the Second Congressional District of Hawaii in the United States House of Representatives. On November 7, 2006, Gabbard defeated retired Honolulu police captain George Yamamoto by a 56% to 44% margin to represent West Oahu's District # 19 in the Hawaii State Senate.

Mike and Carol's eldest daughter, Tulsi Gabbard Tamayo, won a seat in the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002. Tulsi, at 21, was the youngest representative ever to be elected to the Hawaii State Legislature. Tulsi completed her two-year term in 2004. She then made the decision to volunteer with the Hawaii Army National Guard’s Support Battalion of the 29th Brigade Combat Team and was stationed in Iraq at Camp Anaconda. Tulsi worked as a field coordinator for U.S. Senator Dan Akaka's re-election campaign in 2006 and currently works as a legislative aide in Senator Akaka's Washington D.C. office.

Mike is the founder/chairman of Stand Up For America (SUFA), a non-profit educational organization that is intended to promote social change and patriotism. Mike founded and is also the chairman of Healthy Hawaii Coalition (HHC), a non-profit group whose two-fold purpose is to protect the environment and to improve individual and community health. HHC has been very active in schools across the state of Hawaii teaching watershed protection.

On August 30, 2007, Mike Gabbard switched from the Republican Party of Hawaii to the Democratic Party of Hawaii. His stated reason for doing so was that he believed that he could be more effective to his constituents as part of the majority party in the Hawaii State Senate.^[1]