Donna Mercado Kim

Donna Kim
Member of the Hawaii Senate
from the 14th district
Assumed office
November 7, 2000
Preceded by Norman Mizuguchi
13th President of the Hawaii Senate
In office
December 28, 2012 – May 5, 2015
Preceded by Shan Tsutsui
Succeeded by Ron Kouchi
Member of the Honolulu City Council
In office
January 17, 1986 – July 26, 2000
Preceded by Rudy Pacarro
Succeeded by Romy Cachola
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives
from the 29th and 40th district
In office
1982–1985
Succeeded by Karen Horita
Personal details
Born January 31, 1952
Honolulu, Hawaii, US
Political party Democratic
Children Micah Aiu
Education University of Hawaii, Manoa
Washington State University (BA)
Website Senator Donna Mercado Kim

Donna Mercado Kim is an American Democratic party politician from Hawaii. She is a state senator from Senate District 14 and was President of the Hawaiʻi Senate for almost three years.

Education

Kim attended, and graduated from Farrington High School, in Kalihi-Palama, Honolulu. Kim is a graduate of Washington State University, although she also attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Political career

From 1982 to 1984, Kim was a member of the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives.

From 1986 to 2000, Kim served on the Honolulu City Council.

Elected to the Senate in 2000, Kim has chaired the Committee on Tourism, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Special Committee on Accountability, and the Task Force on Reinventing Government.

From 2003 to 2008 and again from 2011 to 2013, Kim served as Vice President of the Senate.

In 2013, Kim became President of the Hawaiʻi Senate, replacing Shan Tsutsui who left the position to become Lieutenant Governor. Kim's tenure as President of the Senate ended in 2015.

In 2014, Kim ran for congress to fill the vacated seat of U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. She lost the race to Mark Takai.

In 2018, Kim once again ran for 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, as she was running for governor, but lost to former congressman Ed Case.

Personal

Kim was born in Honolulu.

Her father is Korean, while her mother is Spanish-Filipino-Portuguese.