Mufi Hannemann
Encyclopedia
Muliufi Francis "Mufi" Hannemann (born July 16, 1954) is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 politician. He is the former Mayor of Honolulu
Mayor of Honolulu
The Mayor of Honolulu is the chief executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu and considered the third most powerful official in the U.S. state of Hawaii, behind the Governor of Hawaii and the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii...

. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, with the Department of the Interior, where he was selected for a White House fellowship in the Reagan administration under Vice President George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...

. He also served as chairman of the Honolulu City Council
Honolulu City Council
The Honolulu City Council is the legislative branch of the City & County of Honolulu and is considered the second most powerful parliamentary body in the State of Hawaii, following the Hawaii State Legislature...

. He is the first person of Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...

n descent and the second member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as Mayor of Honolulu (Neal S. Blaisdell was the first).

On August 30, 2011, Hannemann announced his intention to run for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional district seat
Hawaii's 2nd congressional district
Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The district encompasses all rural and most suburban areas that are part of the City and County of Honolulu, which covers all of the island of Oahu...

 in the 2012 U.S. House elections
United States House of Representatives elections in Hawaii, 2012
The 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Hawaii will be held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 to elect the two U.S. Representatives from the state, one from each of the state's two congressional districts...

.

Early life, education and career

Muliufi Francis Hannemann was raised in the Honolulu community of Kalihi
Kalihi
thumb|300px|Historically, Kalihi was an [[ahupua'a|ahupuaʻa]], or area of land ruled by chief or king and managed by the members of the [[alii|alii]]Kalihi is a neighborhood community of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States...

 by his German father, Gustav Apiz Hannemann, and Samoan
Samoans
The Samoan people are a Polynesian ethnic group of the Samoan Islands, sharing genetics, language, history and culture. Due to colonialism, the home islands are politically and geographically divided between the country of Samoa, official name Independent State of Samoa ; and American Samoa, an...

 mother, Faiaso Hannemann. He attended Fern, Pu`uhale and Kalihi Kai elementary schools up to the seventh grade before being accepted to the ʻIolani School
Iolani School
Iolani School, located at 563 Kamoku Street in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a private coeducational college preparatory school serving over 1,800 students. Founded in 1863 by Father William R. Scott, it was the principal school of the former Anglican Church of Hawaii. It was patronized by Kamehameha IV...

 with a scholarship. He graduated with honors and competed in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 and American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

. In the fall of 1972, Hannemann left the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...

 to attend Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 where he was elected freshman class president and was varsity basketball letterman. Upon graduation from Harvard in 1976 Hannemann continued his studies as a Fulbright Scholar at the Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...

 in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

. He returned to Honolulu after his studies to become an educator at his alma mater, Iolani School. He was a history teacher and basketball coach.

Public service career

After his teaching career, Hannemann entered government service as a special assistant to President Jimmy Carter, working with the United States Department of the Interior
United States Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior is the United States federal executive department of the U.S. government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, and the administration of programs relating to Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native...

. Hannemann was recalled to Honolulu to become special assistant to Governor of Hawaii
Governor of Hawaii
The Governor of Hawaii is the chief executive of the state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state...

 George Ariyoshi
George Ariyoshi
George Ryoichi Ariyoshi , served as the third Governor of Hawaii from 1974 to 1986. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He assumed the governorship when John A. Burns was declared incapacitated. When he was elected, Ariyoshi became the first American of Asian descent to be elected governor of...

 before returning to the White House to serve as staff assistant to Vice President George H. W. Bush.

After a brief stint as President and General Manager of Punaluu Sweetbread Shop and C. Brewer Hawaiian Juices, in 1984 Hannemann was promoted Vice President for Corporate Marketing and Public Affairs for the parent company, C. Brewer and Company, Ltd.

In 1986, Hannemann ran for the First District U.S. House seat vacated by Cecil Heftel
Cecil Heftel
Cecil Landau Heftel, popularly known as Cec Heftel was an American politician and businessman from Hawai'i...

, who sought the governorship that year. Hannemann won the Democratic primary election but lost the special election to fill Heftel's unexpired term to Neil Abercrombie
Neil Abercrombie
Neil Abercrombie is the 7th and current Governor of Hawaii. He was the Democratic U.S. Representative of the First Congressional District of Hawaii which comprises urban Honolulu. He served in Congress from 1986 to 1987 and from 1991 to 2010 when he resigned to successfully run for governor...

. He again lost in the general election to Republican candidate Pat Saiki
Pat Saiki
Patricia Fukuda "Pat" Saiki is an American politician and former school teacher from Hilo in the State of Hawai'i. She served as a Republican in Congress from 1987 to 1991 and then as Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President of the United States George H. W...

. In 1990, he ran for Congress again, this time for the Second District seat vacated by Daniel Akaka
Daniel Akaka
Daniel Kahikina Akaka is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is currently the only member of the Senate who has Chinese ancestry....

, who was eventually elected to the U.S. Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

. He lost the Democratic primary to Patsy Mink
Patsy Mink
Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third generation Japanese American and member of the Democratic Party. She also was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.Mink served in the U.S...

, who eventually won the seat.

However, Hannemann would again be tapped for government service in 1991, appointed by Governor John D. Waihee III
John D. Waihee III
John David Waihee III served as the fourth Governor of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994. He was the first American of Native Hawaiian descent to be elected to the office from any state of the United States. After his tenure in the governor's office, Waihee became a nationally prominent attorney and...

 as Chairman of the Hawaii Pro Bowl Host Committee, Chairman of the Task Force on Homeporting, Director of the Hawaii Office of International Relations and Director of the Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Having directed various state agencies of the Government of Hawaii, Hannemann was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve at the federal level once again as United States Representative to the South Pacific Commission.

In 1994, Hannemann was elected to the Honolulu City Council representing Aiea
Aiea
Aiea or Aiea may refer to:* Members of the Hawaiian flowering plant genus Nothocestrum**Nothocestrum breviflorum A.Gray - Smallflower aiea...

 and Pearl City, and in 1996 he founded the Pacific Century Fellows Program modeled after the White House Fellows
White House Fellows
The White House Fellows program was established by President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson in October 1964. President Johnson articulated that the mission of the program was "to give the Fellows first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the federal government and to increase...

 Program. He was re-elected to his seat in 1998. He served as Council Chairman from 1998 to 1999. Differences in opinion with then-Mayor Jeremy Harris
Jeremy Harris
Jeremy Harris, born December 7, 1950 in Wilmington, Delaware, served as Mayor of Honolulu from 1994 to 2004. A biologist by training, Harris started his political career as a delegate to the 1978 Hawai'i State Constitutional Convention...

 led to his resignation from the Council in 2000 to run against Harris. Harris won re-election in the September 2000 non-partisan election with enough votes to avoid a run-off that November.

In the administration of President George W. Bush, Hannemann served in the United States Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...

 as a member of the President's Council on the 21st Century Workforce.

Mayor of Honolulu

In 2004 Hannemann again ran for Mayor, this time to replace Harris, who was unable to seek a third full term as Mayor due to term limits. His opponent was former City Council colleague Duke Bainum
Duke Bainum
Mark Edmund "Duke" Bainum was an American politician and physician. Bainum served in the Hawaii State House of Representatives as a member of the Hawaii Democratic Party and was elected in a nonpartisan race to the Honolulu City Council and held various committee chairmanships during his tenure...

. The race was considered one of the most expensive and fiercest races, with both candidates sharply criticizing the other's stands and character. Bainum received the most votes in the September election, but failed to receive the necessary majority to avoid a run-off against Hannemann. In November, Hannemann narrowly won the election with a margin of about 1,300 votes out of nearly 300,000 cast.

Hannemann was sworn in as mayor on January 2, 2005. In his first State of the City address, Hannemann pledged to concentrate on fiscal restraint and basic city services, claiming a contrast between himself and his predecessor. One of his major accomplishments as mayor was overseeing the planning for the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project
Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project
The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Plans for a mass transit line to connect Honolulu's urban center with outlying areas began in the 1960s,...

, which will provide a rail transit system for Honolulu. The project eventually became a major issue when Hannemann came up for reelection in 2008, with his odds of success tied to public perception of it.

He is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a coalition of over 600 mayors who support a number of gun control initiatives that the group calls "commonsense reforms" to fight illegal gun trafficking and gun violence in the United States...

, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...

 and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...

. He currently serves as the Chair of the Tourism, Arts, Parks, Entertainment, and Sports Committee of the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Hannemann was longlisted for the 2008 World Mayor
World Mayor
World Mayor is a biennial award organized by The City Mayors Foundation since 2004. It intends to raise the profile of mayors worldwide, as well as honour those who have served their communities well and who have contributed to the well-being of cities, nationally and internationally...

 award.

In 2009, Hannemann was sworn into his second term as mayor of Honolulu by Bode Uale
Bode Uale
Bode Uale was the first family court judge appointed in the United States who was of Samoan descent. Uale currently serves as the lead judge of the Honolulu Family Court's Domestic Division.Uale is a Latter-day Saint....

.

2010 Hawaii gubernatorial campaign

On July 20, 2010, Hannemann resigned his position as mayor to compete in the 2010 Hawaii gubernatorial election. City Managing Director Kirk Caldwell
Kirk Caldwell
Kirk Caldwell is an American politician who was Acting Mayor of the City and County of Honolulu in 2010.-Life:Caldwell represented the 24th Representative District in the Hawaii State House of Representatives of the Hawaii State Legislature from 2002 to 2008, serving as the House Majority Leader...

 assumed the position of interim mayor until a special election was held to determine a permanent replacement. On September 18, 2010 Hannemann lost the Democratic primary to Neil Abercrombie
Neil Abercrombie
Neil Abercrombie is the 7th and current Governor of Hawaii. He was the Democratic U.S. Representative of the First Congressional District of Hawaii which comprises urban Honolulu. He served in Congress from 1986 to 1987 and from 1991 to 2010 when he resigned to successfully run for governor...

 by approximately twenty one percentage points.

2012 U.S. House campaign

Hannemann announced his intention to run for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional district seat on August 30, 2011. The incumbent, Mazie Hirono
Mazie Hirono
is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.She was the second Asian immigrant elected lieutenant governor of a state of the United States. She ran against Linda Lingle for governor of Hawaii in 2002, one of the few gubernatorial races in United...

, is vacating the seat to run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Daniel Akaka
Daniel Akaka
Daniel Kahikina Akaka is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is currently the only member of the Senate who has Chinese ancestry....

, who is retiring and not running for reelection in 2012.

External links

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