Neil Abercrombie Bio
Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician and educator who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Hawaii’s 1st congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives for nine consecutive terms from 1993 to 2010. Earlier in his career, he served in the Hawaii State House and Senate and on the Honolulu City Council. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Union College and both a master’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Known for a progressive voting record and advocacy on civil liberties, social issues, and labor rights, Abercrombie resigned from Congress in 2010 to focus on his successful campaign for governor. He is married to political scientist and feminist writer Nancie Caraway and resides in the Mānoa Valley area of Honolulu, Hawaii.
Early Life and Background
Neil Abercrombie was born on June 26, 1938, in Buffalo, New York, the son of Vera June (née Grader) and George Donald Abercrombie. He has English, Irish, and German ancestors, and his paternal great-grandfather James Abercrombie left Ireland for Canada, with his son later immigrating to the United States. After graduating from Williamsville High School, which is now known as Williamsville South High School, Abercrombie pursued studies in sociology at Union College in Schenectady, New York, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1959. He was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity during his time at Union College.
Abercrombie arrived in Honolulu in September 1959 to continue his studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he earned a master’s degree in sociology and later a doctorate in American Studies. At the university, he befriended and attended classes with Barack Obama’s parents, Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. To support himself as a graduate student, Abercrombie worked a wide range of jobs, including waiter, locker desk clerk, custodian, construction apprentice program director, elementary school teacher, and college lecturer.
Path to US Politics
Neil Abercrombie first participated in a political campaign in 1970, when he sought the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate, though he was unsuccessful. In 1975, he won a seat in the Hawaii State House of Representatives, where he served until 1979. A distinguishing symbol of his early campaigns was a yellow Checker Taxi with his name and face painted on the side, an approach motivated by a lack of money for traditional campaigning. The taxi became a symbol of both his standing as an outsider from the mainland and his unconventional political style.
In 1979, Abercrombie was elected to the Hawaii State Senate, where he served from 1980 to 1986. After U.S. Representative Cecil Heftel resigned in July 1986 to run for governor of Hawaii, Abercrombie won a special election to complete Heftel’s unexpired term. On the same day, he lost the Democratic primary for a full two-year term to Mufi Hannemann. Abercrombie then set his sights on a seat on the Honolulu City Council, where he served from 1988 to 1990, before returning to Congress in 1991.
Neil Abercrombie Career
Early Career (1975-1990)
Neil Abercrombie’s early political career began at the state level with his election to the Hawaii State House of Representatives in 1975, where he served for four years. He then moved to the Hawaii State Senate in 1980, where he served until 1986, building a reputation for progressive politics and unconventional campaigning. His brief tenure in the U.S. House in 1986, following Cecil Heftel’s resignation, gave him his first experience in federal office, even though he lost the primary for a full term on the same day.
Afterward, Abercrombie transitioned to local government, winning a seat on the Honolulu City Council, where he served from 1988 to 1990. These years at the state and local levels helped him develop the political base and experience that would later support his successful long run in Congress and his eventual election as governor of Hawaii.
Congressional Era (1991-2010)
At the end of his Honolulu City Council tenure in 1990, Neil Abercrombie ran again for Congress and won, beginning a long tenure representing Hawaii’s 1st congressional district. He was reelected ten times, with his strongest performance coming in the 2008 election, when he won 70.6 percent of the vote. During his years in Congress, he served as chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces and as a senior member of the Natural Resources Committee. He also co-authored legislation creating public-private partnerships between the military and private developers to build and manage housing for military families.
Abercrombie was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and compiled a generally liberal voting record. He supported and voted for the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act, but on October 10, 2002, he was among the 133 House members who voted against authorizing the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He cosponsored the Assault Weapons Ban and Law Enforcement Protection Act of 2005, and he took issue with the Vatican for not listing torture as a sin. He was one of only nine representatives who did not cast a vote for or against the USA PATRIOT Act in 2001, and in 2005 he voted against its extension, calling it a blank check to trample civil liberties. He also voted against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and against a 2006 constitutional amendment to limit marriage to being between one man and one woman. In 2007, he co-sponsored H.R. 676, which would have established a national health insurance program. Abercrombie resigned from Congress on February 28, 2010, to concentrate on his campaign for governor.
Governor of Hawaii Era (2010-2014)
On March 9, 2009, Neil Abercrombie announced his candidacy for governor of Hawaii, and on December 11, 2009, he announced his resignation from Congress to focus on his campaign. During the campaign, he released his A New Day in Hawaii Plan, a policy roadmap built from conversations with thousands of residents across the islands. He defeated former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the 2010 Democratic primary, 59.3 percent to 37.7 percent, and on November 2, 2010, he defeated Republican nominee Duke Aiona, 57.8 percent to 40.8 percent, to become Hawaii’s seventh governor. He was sworn into office on December 6, 2010, the first gubernatorial victor of the 2010 election cycle to be sworn in, and at 72, he was briefly the oldest current United States governor.
As governor, Abercrombie signed a bill in February 2011 legalizing civil unions in Hawaii, reversing a veto by his predecessor, Linda Lingle. In 2013, he called the Hawaii Legislature into a special session to consider a same-sex marriage bill, which he signed into law on November 13, 2013, with the new law taking effect on December 2, 2013, making Hawaii the 15th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Upon the death of longtime Senator Daniel Inouye, Abercrombie appointed Lieutenant Governor Brian Schatz to fill the vacant Senate seat, choosing from a list of three finalists provided by the state Democratic Party. He also served on the Council of Governors from 2012 to 2014 and was named to President Obama’s Task Force on Climate Preparedness and Resilience in 2013. By October 2011, polls showed him to be the least popular governor in the country, with a 30 percent approval rating.
On August 9, 2014, Abercrombie was defeated in the Democratic primary by state senator David Ige, taking 31 percent of the vote to Ige’s 67 percent. He was the first incumbent governor to lose a primary in Hawaii’s history, and the margin of defeat was the largest of any incumbent governor in U.S. history. Despite the support of President Barack Obama and a campaign that outspent Ige $4.9 million to $447,000, his confrontational governing style, tax proposals, pension restructuring, and the controversial Schatz appointment all contributed to his loss.
Notable Events and Milestones
Among Neil Abercrombie’s most notable achievements in office was signing Hawaii’s marriage equality bill in 2013, making the state the 15th in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage. He also signed the civil unions bill in 2011, appointed Brian Schatz to the U.S. Senate following Daniel Inouye’s death, and represented urban Honolulu in Congress for nearly two decades. His 2014 primary loss set a record for the largest margin of defeat for any incumbent governor in U.S. history.
Neil Abercrombie Family
Family Background and Lineage
Neil Abercrombie was born in Buffalo, New York, to George Donald Abercrombie and Vera June (née Grader). He has English, Irish, and German ancestors, and his paternal great-grandfather James Abercrombie emigrated from Ireland to Canada, with his son later moving to the United States.
Personal Life
In 1981, Neil Abercrombie married Nancie Caraway, a political scientist and feminist writer affiliated with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Globalization Research Center. The couple resides in the Mānoa Valley area of Honolulu, Hawaii. Abercrombie is also known as an avid powerlifter, with a stated goal of bench-pressing 200 pounds more than his age on each birthday, bench-pressing 272 pounds on his 72nd birthday. In 2006, he was named Scot of the Year by the Caledonian Society of Hawaii.