Kim Coco Iwamoto, 56, who will represent House District 25 beginning the next legislative session, pledged to be a strong advocate for marginalized voices and to provide the necessary resources her neighbors seek.
Iwamoto, identifying herself as a community organizer, a civil rights activist and “a mama bear for my foster kids, as well as my daughter and students in general,” expressed her gratitude for the community’s support and her excitement to begin serving in the upcoming legislative session.
“I’m here for people who don’t often get a seat at the table, voices who are drowned out by paid lobbyists, people who are ignored by the people in power, because they don’t have the same kind of money or status,” Iwamoto said. “Those are the people I love to elevate.”
Iwamoto said she doesn’t have a particular affinity for any House committee, so she’s “happy to go wherever I’m needed” and aims to stay flexible in that regard.
Traditionally, first-year legislators serve on the House Finance Committee, and Iwamoto plans to leverage her background with the Board of Education, which deals with a “detailed budget,” and address tax loopholes whenever she identifies them.
“I hope we begin this new era with implementing a lot of good government reforms,” she said.
Iwamoto also aims to tackle the homelessness crisis by advocating for the establishment of shelters and increasing access to social workers. Additionally, she plans to focus on securing affordable housing, particularly for seniors, and strengthening consumer protections for condominium owners — an increasingly pressing issue in the Kakaako area.
As a former BOE member and part of the family that originally founded Roberts Hawaii, Iwamoto said she plans to initiate more discussions in the Legislature and beyond to address the bus driver shortage, along with other pressing quality-education concerns raised by state DOE families.
Iwamoto hopes to guarantee universal prekindergarten for all children in the state, fully fund the public education system and eliminate undergraduate tuition at public colleges and universities.
She also seeks to increase support for social workers in schools and implement training certification for adults who are in close contact with children to prevent abuse and neglect.
As a Kakaako resident herself, Iwamoto said her primary goal is to elevate the voices of her neighbors, starting with public safety and repairing roads in Kakaako, such as those on Queen Street.
While she acknowledged that the roads fall under the city’s jurisdiction, she emphasized her desire to be a collaborative legislator who works with those directly responsible for addressing the issue, rather than remaining an inactive bystander.
“I hate it when I would go to an elected person and they say, ‘Oh, well, that’s not my issue; it’s their issue,’ and point their fingers,” Iwamoto said. “When you ask me what kind of legislator I want to be, I want to be the kind of legislator that’s like, ‘Let’s go find out whose road it is, and then let’s work together with whosever’s road it is.’ … We’re going to work together. I want to be a collaborator.”
Iwamoto unseated House Speaker Scott Saiki (D, Ala Moana-Kakaako-Downtown) on her third attempt, attributing her victory to a “third-time’s-the-charm kind of energy,” and noted that her close race with Saiki in 2020 — when she lost by fewer than 200 votes — served as an “affirmation” to run again.
Iwamoto added that holding a seat in the Legislature wasn’t something she initially desired; rather, it was driven by “seeing this individual wield this power in such an undemocratic way.”
Iwamoto acknowledged that she could anticipate some resentment from her future legislative colleagues when she starts her role, given that she defeated Saiki.
She described him as a “protector of many of my colleagues.”
When the new session begins and House legislators find themselves “without that protective shell,” Iwamoto hopes that they will understand her reasons for stepping into the role. She emphasized that her goal is to work alongside them, share in decision-making and collaborate to ensure that better laws are passed for Hawaii.
As an elected official, Iwamoto doesn’t anticipate much tension or obstacles and remains optimistic about serving her community effectively. She acknowledged that personal disagreements with other legislators may be inevitable, but said she will stay focused on her main goal of improving the community.
