About Neil Abercrombie

Neil Abercrombie’s life and career reveal a boundless commitment to serve others with integrity, honesty, and humility. Year after year, Neil has proven that he is a leader we can trust to put people first. He calls his run for Governor “the culmination of a lifetime of public service.” This is the last public office he will seek.

Shaped By Hawaii

Neil arrived in Hawaii a month after statehood, in September 1959, to study at UH Manoa where he earned a masters degree in sociology and later a Ph.D. in American studies. To support himself, Neil worked as a waiter at Chuck's Steak House in Waikiki, a locker desk clerk at the Central YMCA, a custodian at Mother Rice Preschool, a construction apprentice program director, an elementary school teacher and a college lecturer. All the while, he was being touched by the stories around him. Neil embraced Hawaii. He began to see the Islands as a model of tolerance and diversity for the world.

In 1970, motivated by opposition to the Vietnam War, Neil made a bold and unlikely bid for the U.S. Senate against Republican Senator Hiram Fong. Neil’s colorful campaign as “Super Senator” has become a legendary part of Hawaii’s political history. Fong won, but Neil’s political career was launched. It was clear that Neil was a man willing to stand up for what was right against any interest, no matter how powerful or entrenched. Now began the work of collaboration and reaching out to earn people’s trust and faith.

Serving Hawaii at Home

In 1974, Neil ran for the State House of Representatives in Makiki-Manoa. He walked the neighborhood relentlessly, often visiting families two or three times to introduce himself and to talk about issues. His primary focus in that campaign was the prevention of overdevelopment in Makiki and Manoa. He focused on the need to conserve our water supply and protect our watersheds.

During the campaign, Democratic Party leader Nadao Yoshinaga endorsed Neil. As Neil remembers: “Here was a political visionary giving a long-haired haole boy from Manoa a chance. Nadao became my mentor in public service. To him it was always about what’s on the inside. He is my hero and role model to this day.”

Neil was elected and served in the State House of Representatives from 1975 to 1979 and in the State Senate from 1979 to 1986. He earned a reputation as a tenacious fighter for the interests of the people. Neil helped elderly depositors regain their life savings when Manoa Finance collapsed. He helped start the award-winning Healthy Start prevention program for at-risk mothers and children.

In 1986, Neil won a special election to Congress to fill the unexpired term of Congressman Cec Heftel. He was the last person sworn in by Speaker Tip O’Neill. He returned home to serve as Special Assistant to the Superintendent of Education where he helped implement Hawaii’s distance-learning programs.

Neil was elected to serve on the Honolulu City Council from 1988 to 1990. At the city, Neil again worked tirelessly to improve the lives of everyday people. He was one of the leading advocates, along with then-mayor Frank Fasi, of a rail transit system in Honolulu.

Serving Hawaii in Congress

In 1990, Neil was elected to return to Congress and represent Hawaii’s first Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In Washington D.C., Neil displayed his now-familiar leadership qualities: solid homework on the issues, speaking with conviction, and reaching across the aisle to forge long-lasting friendships regardless of political persuasion or party. As chairman of the Armed Forces Subcommittee on Air and Land Forces, Neil built strong relationships with Democrats and Republicans to improve the quality of life for the men and women of the armed forces. Neil’s military housing initiative transformed the living conditions of every military family in the United States. In 2009, Neil received the Harry S. Truman Award—the highest honor given by the National Guard Association of the United States—for “sustained contributions of exceptional and far-reaching magnitude to the defense and security of the United States.”

As a senior member on the Natural Resources Committee, Neil worked to protect our national parks, forests, wilderness areas, oceans, natural resources, and the interests of the indigenous peoples of our nation. He was instrumental in the establishment of a humpback whale sanctuary in Hawaii.

In Congress, Neil helped to secure billions of dollars for the Islands in sectors from high-tech to health and education. Neil has shepherded full funding for every Honolulu rail transit project of the last twenty years, including the current rail proposal.

A Call to Action

When he was pursuing his graduate degree at UH Manoa, Neil befriended fellow students Barack Obama, Sr. and Ann Dunham. Years later, Neil would become one of the first people in the nation to support their son, Barack Obama, in his historic candidacy for president. He served as the honorary chair of the Hawaii Obama Campaign. And when Barack Obama was elected, it was not just a moment of pride for Neil, it was a call to action. After a hard look at the enormous challenges facing Hawaii today, it became clear to Neil that the best way to serve Hawaii was to run for Governor.

We now have a President who understands Hawaii. In Neil, we have a gubernatorial candidate who understands Congress. As Governor, Neil will draw on strong relationships to bring the best to Hawaii and to lead a movement for positive change in the Islands.

Early Years

Neil grew up in a family that valued hard work. His grandpa George Abercrombie ran the horse stable for Iroquois Brewery. His grandpa George Grader had a coal truck delivery business. Neil’s father Don, a small businessman, was a broker for food manufacturers, and Neil and his brother Hal would help their father on his sales route. Neil’s mother Vera was a kindergarten teacher who, like so many women in those days, faced open discrimination in the form of lower pay and benefits simply because she was a woman.

Neil grew up in Buffalo, New York, a city with strict ethnic and religious divides. He often got into fights to defend himself and others for having the “wrong” background. In his childhood, Neil also saw Lake Erie literally die over time from pollution. He saw the city’s entire population of elm trees wiped by disease. From an early age, Neil formed a strong desire to right things that were wrong.

In school Neil was a multiple letter winner in track and swimming, a first-team Division I all-star in football, and a New York State Regents Scholar for academic excellence. He attended Union College, a small men’s college in New York State. When he decided to go on to graduate school to study sociology, he turned to the University of Hawaii, attracted by the Islands’ reputation for social diversity and the adventure of studying in a place that was about to become America’s newest state.

A Lifetime of Commitment

Neil lives with his wife, Dr. Nancie Caraway (Read more about Dr. Nancie Caraway) , and their cat, Che, and dog, Kanoa, in lower Manoa. The couple purchased their house in 2000 after decades of saving. Having been renters for the first twenty years of their marriage, Neil and Nancie are familiar with the struggle that so many in the Islands face to find and afford housing.

Neil regularly lifts weights at the Nuuanu YMCA, where he listens to one of Hawaii's most vocal focus groups, the Nuuanu Y locker room gang. He enjoys walking Kanoa and regular visits to see Nancie’s mother, who is a resident at Maunalani Nursing Center.

Neil's career in public service is unrivaled in Hawaii. How did this man—a person who is not the predictable politician we have come to expect—become such an effective advocate for Hawaii? Part of it is Neil's unmatched passion for doing what is right even when powerful interests stand in the way. And part of it is something unique to Hawaii: Neil is living proof that when we let aloha into our hearts and stand by our values, we accomplish great things.