Jackson Sayama ‘19 Wins Election for Hawai'i State House of Representatives

It’s official: Jackson Sayama ‘19 has won his race for Hawai'i State House of Representatives. At 23, the win makes him the second youngest person to ever be elected to the State House in Hawai'i (after U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard). He will be the youngest current representative in Hawaii’s 51-member House of Representatives. 

Sayama and his team spent the weeks leading up to the election making sure that his hard work to win the primary would pay off. “The last few weeks [before the election were] about making sure people turned in their ballot and voted on November 3rd,” he said. “The worst case scenario was that people voted in the primary, but then took it for granted and wouldn’t vote in the general election.” Luckily, that is not what ended up happening. Sayama won with a huge margin of victory: 75% of his district’s voters cast their ballots for him.

_{Sayama (right), with his uncle, doing last minute sign waving on Halloween}

But election night did not run as planned. Following the U.S. national trend of record-breaking voter turnout, long lines at the Hawai'i polls delayed the results for hours. Sayama and his family expected to know the results by 7pm, but instead had to wait until 11:30pm for the official announcement to come. “Once we got the results, we went straight to bed. We were exhausted from watching the presidential elections too, so we were ready to call it a night.”

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic and Hawai'i’s $2.3 billion tax revenue shortfall as he stepped into office, Sayama’s first few months in office were not easy. In addition to continuing his coursework towards Masters in Public Administration at the University of Hawai'i, he was faced with the responsibility of helping fix large issues facing his home state. As a new State Representative, he hoped to focus on three main issues: the economy and health recovery of Hawai'i from COVID-19, the state’s huge pressing issue with houselessness, and strengthening public education. Right off the bat, Sayama sprung into action and is proud of his work in office so far.

“I am proud to have worked with my colleagues to help Hawai'i and its people overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve passed key legislation to reposition Hawai'i’s economy to work better for local families and businesses on daily issues,” he said. “It’s really exciting to think about what I can continue to do to make a difference in the community that I was born and raised in.” 

For more on Jackson, check out Jackson Sayama '19 Runs for Hawai'i State House.