Quick Facts
Biography
Donna Mercado Kim is an American Democratic party politician from Hawaii. She is a state senator from Senate District 14 and was President of the Hawaiʻi Senate for almost three years.
Education
Kim is a graduate of Washington State University, although she also attended the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Political career
From 1982 to 1984, Kim was a member of the Hawaiʻi House of Representatives.
From 1986 to 2000, Kim served on the Honolulu City Council.
Elected to the Senate in 2000, Kim has chaired the Committee on Tourism, the Committee on Ways and Means, the Special Committee on Accountability, and the Task Force on Reinventing Government.
From 2003 to 2008 and again from 2011 to 2013, Kim served as Vice President of the Senate.
In 2013, Kim became President of the Hawaiʻi Senate, replacing Shan Tsutsui who left the position to become Lieutenant Governor. As President of the Senate, Kim earned $53,773 annually. In May 2013, Kim was accused of pressuring the President of the University of Hawaiʻi to accept her son's application to the William S. Richardson School of Law.
Kim's tenure as President of the Senate ended in 2015 after an unusual midyear leadership reorganization.
Personal
Kim was born in Honolulu.
She is a Filipino American.