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.
Her community service has included granting her “Aloha Spirit Award” since 1989 to students at Aiea Intermediate, Dole Middle, and Moanalua Middle schools for their academic and extracurricular excellence, participating in national campaigns to encourage literacy among children, and distributing school supplies to children from low-income households.
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 2017, Kim ran for 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa, as she is running for governor.

Personal

Kim was born in Honolulu.
Her father is a second generation Korean, while her mother is Spanish-Filipino-Portuguese.