STAR BULLETIN / 2004 Marilyn Lee, center, shown here with Reps. Mina Morita and Ezra Kanoho, succeeded her husband, Sam, in the state House when he decided not to run after 10 years in office.

---

Politics often runs
in island families

One of eight in the Legislature
has a relative who served

For some in the state Legislature, politics is a family business.

Ten out of the 76 lawmakers now in the Legislature have some family connection to other or former legislators.

One of the most enduring relationships has been with Wahiawa Democratic Rep. Marcus Oshiro, who is the son of former House member and key Democratic strategist Robert Oshiro.

Dubbed the "Wizard of Wahiawa," Robert Oshiro was there for the building of the modern Democratic Party in the 1950s, and served in city and state offices through the 1970s. He has been credited with being the linchpin for the gubernatorial elections of John Burns, George Ariyoshi and John Waihee.

Since 1994, his son Marcus Oshiro, also an attorney, has represented the Wahiawa area.

"Just watching him and hearing him and learning about him gave me the impression that being politically active was something that everyone did. We looked forward to the campaigns and elections," Marcus said.

In the Oshiro house, politics and politicians were not something to be shunned.

"Becoming a politician was a noble endeavor," Marcus said.

That same feeling -- that politics and public office are a way of giving back to the community -- is a strong connection point for legislators with family members in elective office.

Windward Republican Rep. Cynthia Thielen is the mother of Laura Thielen, who is completing her first term on the school board.

"She is also an attorney, like me, and for a while we had the only mother-and-daughter law office in the state," Rep. Thielen said. "She may have followed my footsteps to become an attorney, but she decided on elective office by herself."

Thielen recalls that her daughter filed for her Board of Education race without telling her, and said they don't usually campaign together.

"We waved thank-you signs together after the election, but she is strong and capable, and she doesn't need my advice," Thielen added.

Another legislator who had some advice and encouragement from his politician dad is Sen. Ron Menor, the son of Benjamin Menor, former state senator and Supreme Court associate justice.

"All the way from elementary school through college, I was involved in student government, public speaking and debate. He would mention to me periodically that if I ever wanted to pursue a career in public service, he thought I could do a good job," said Menor (D, Mililani).

"But he never pushed me in that direction. My desire to get involved in public service is in large part because of the example of my father, because I admired him so much," Menor said.

Not all the family relationships in the Legislature are passed down father to son. There are lateral moves, too, such as Rep. Marilyn Lee (D, Mililani-Mililani Mauka), who ran for the legislative seat that opened when her husband, former Rep. Sam Lee, decided not to run after 10 years in office.

"I was always active in the community and the Democratic Party," said Marilyn Lee. Her husband had been chairman of the Mililani Neighborhood Board, and Lee recalls she succeeded him in that post also.

But when she comes home, "what happens in the caucus room stays in the caucus," Lee said. "But I think what Sam and I share is a love of current events, and we discuss that."

Other family relationships in the Legislature include Rep. Dwight Takamine, chairman of the powerful House Finance Committee, who took over the Hilo-to-Hawi Big Island seat that had been held by his father, Yoshito Takamine. The father and son have represented the district since statehood.

The senior Takamine, a mainstay of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, one of the state's most politically potent labor organizations, stayed in office from 1959 until 1984, when his son succeeded him.

Other legislative leaders with family ties are Rep. Kam Tanaka (D, Olowalu-Kapalua), who is the stepbrother of former Maui Sen. Joe Tanaka.

Rep. Ryan Yamane (D, Waipahu-Mililani) is the son of former Rep. Brian Yamane, and Rep. Bertha Kawakami (D, Niihau-Poipu-Kokee) is the widow of former House Speaker Richard Kawakami.

Also Kevin Kuroda, House sergeant-at-arms, is the son of former Sen. Joe Kuroda.

The Legislature holds one former relationship as well: Sen. Clayton Hee (D, Kahuku-Kaneohe) and Rep. Lyla Berg (D, Hahaione-Aina Haina) were once married.