Lieutenant Governor's Biography

On December 6, 2010, Brian Schatz was inaugurated as the 11th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Hawai'i.

Lt. Governor Schatz was raised in Hawai'i, and attended Pomona College in Claremont, California.

From 1998 to 2006, he was a member of the State House of Representatives, representing the state's 25th district, where he fought for passage of aggressive clean energy laws, helped to triple the budget for school maintenance and repairs and supported high technology businesses. He served as the House Majority Whip, Chair of the Economic Development Committee, Vice-Chair of Water, Land and Ocean Resources, Vice-Chair of Consumer Protection and Commerce, and as a member of the Hawaiian Affairs, Higher Education, Energy and Environmental Protection, and Agriculture Committees.

Before being elected Lieutenant Governor, he served for eight years as the CEO of Helping Hands Hawai'i, a major human services agency, during its most difficult period.

In his first year in office, Lt. Governor had a leading role in preparing for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit, in which 21 delegations met to discuss the future of Asia-Pacific economies.  He has also launched the Hawai'i Fair Share Initiative which seeks more private and public investment in Hawai'i.  Following the 2011 Pacific tsunami, the Lt. Governor helped lead local recovery efforts including providing $8 million in aid to disaster victims in Japan.

Currently, Lt. Governor is tasked by Governor Abercrombie to help lead the State’s clean energy efforts and Asia-Pacific relations.

He is married to Linda Kwok Schatz who is an architect. They have a son and daughter.