Rep. Rhoads Running For Senate
The House Judiciary chair wants to take Suzanne Chun Oakland’s place in the Hawaii state Senate.
The day after a longtime state senator announced she would not seek re-election, an influential House representative says he’s running to replace her.
Karl Rhoads, chair of the House Judiciary committee, said Saturday that he will seek the Senate District 13 seat that represents聽Liliha, Palama, Iwilei, Kalihi, Nuuanu, Pacific Heights, Pauoa, Lower Tantalus and Downtown.
Rhoads represents House District 29, which represents some of the same neighborhoods (Kalihi, Palama, Iwilei and聽Chinatown). He has held the seat since 2006.
“Yes, I am running,” said Rhoads. “I did my best to convince Susie (Suzanne Chun Oakland) to stay, but open Senate seats don’t happen every day. If I do win, I plan to follow in her footsteps, especially regarding homelessness and affordable housing and assisting the mentally ill.”
He added that it was an honor to represent his district in the House of Representatives for a decade.
Rhoads is married to Cindy McMillan, communications聽director for Gov. David Ige, who, like Rhoads and Chun Oakland, is a聽Democrat.
