Saiki, Patricia F. (Patricia Fukuda), 1930-

<p>Patricia Saiki’s revitalization of the Hawaiian Republican Party propelled her to election as the first GOP Representative from the state since 1959, when it entered the Union. As a Member of Congress, Saiki focused on economic and environmental legislation important to her Honolulu constituency as well as the international Asian community. In 1990 Saiki left the House to campaign for a Senate seat in a race that many political observers believed might signal a shift in the balance of political power in Hawaii. “Before Pat Saiki was elected to Congress, it was hard for us to relate to young people and tell them, ‘It’s great to be a Republican,’” noted a Hawaii Republican. “Now we can begin to spin the tale that will make people interested in supporting the Republican Party in Hawaii.”</p>

<p>Patricia Fukuda was born to Kazuo and Shizue Fukuda on May 28, 1930, in Hilo, on the big island of Hawaii. She graduated from Hilo High School in 1948 and received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 1952. In 1954 she married Stanley Saiki, an obstetrician, and they had five children: Stanley, Stuart, Sandra, Margaret, and Laura. Patricia Saiki taught history in Hawaii’s public and private schools for 12 years.</p>

<p>Her path to politics began with her work as a union organizer and research assistant to Hawaii senate Republicans. “I was always interested in organizing people so that we would have a say…. But I assumed leadership positions because I wanted to move our status ahead, but I didn’t think of it as a political career until I was faced with having to abide by the rules that were installed on me by an entity over which I had no control. So I felt that the only way to do this is change the control.” In the mid-1960s, Saiki served as the secretary and then the vice chair of the state Republican Party. She attended the state constitutional convention in 1968, and that year won election to the Hawaii house of representatives, where she served for six years. In 1974 Saiki won election to the state senate, where she served until 1982. In 1982 Saiki left the legislature and made an unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor. She subsequently oversaw a three-fold expansion in party membership and helped the party raise $800,000 during her two-and-a-half-year tenure as party chair. Her work contributed to the revival of the Republican Party in the strongly Democratic state, which led to the victory of Democrat-turned-Republican Frank Fasi in the Honolulu mayoral race and helped President Ronald Reagan win Hawaii in the 1984 presidential election. The only previous Republican presidential candidate to carry the state was Richard M. Nixon in 1972.</p>

<p>Patricia Hatsue Saiki (née Fukuda; born May 28, 1930) is an American politician and former educator from Hilo, Hawaii. She served as a Republican in Congress from 1987 to 1991 and then as Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President of the United States George H. W. Bush.</p>

<p>Saiki was born in Hilo, Hawaii, on May 28, 1930. Saiki graduated from Hilo High School in 1948 and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in 1952. Upon graduating from college, Saiki became a teacher at Punahou, Kaimuki Intermediate, and Kalani High schools. She also taught in Toledo, Ohio, when she and her husband, Stanley Saiki, moved there for his medical school residency.</p>

<p>Saiki ran for office after establishing the teacher's chapter of the Hawaii Government Employees Association. Her fellow teachers encouraged her to run for office, which she did in 1968.</p>