Brian Schatz, Hawaii’s Jewish Lt. Gov., Named to U.S. Senate
Hawaii’s governor named his Jewish lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz, to replace the late Daniel Inouye in the U.S. Senate.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, on Wednesday named Schatz, a former chairman of the state Democratic Party, to replace Inouye, who died last week.
Schatz, 40, lists his religion as Jewish on his Facebook page.
He campaign for President Obama in Hawaii, Obama’s home state, in 2008, and his experience is in the non-profit sector.
He was for a time the CEO of Helping Hands Hawaii, a social services provider.
Inouye, who was a pro-Israel leader in the Senate and who once considered converting to Judaism, had told Abercrombie that his preferred successor would be U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii).
Inouye’s office said it was “disappointed” but wished Schatz the best of luck, the Associated Press reported.
Schatz will serve until 2014, when there will be a general election for the seat.
Schatz brings to 11 the number of U.S. Senators who identify as Jewish.
All are Democrats, except for Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who is an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats. Additionally, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) does not identify a religion but notes that his mother is Jewish.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
