HONOLULU [April 14, 2012] – Tulsi Gabbard’s campaign for U.S. Congress officially opened her O’ahu campaign headquarters in Kaneohe last night. Over 200 Tulsi supporters attended the evening, highlighted by an enthusiastic speech by Tulsi Gabbard, emcee and Ambassador of Aloha Danny Kaleikini, and Kaneohe musicians Ernie Kanoa and Alika Odem. The event also served as Tulsi’s birthday celebration.
Supporters cheered when Tulsi, a war veteran who served two tours of duty in the Middle East, said in a rousing speech, “I am humbled by the encouragement and excitement I feel here tonight. This campaign is about bringing the voice of Hawaii's people to Congress, and fighting for all people of Hawaii, and against the undue influence of big corporations, and Wall Street banks.”
Ramona Ferreyra, campaign volunteer said, “I’m here tonight supporting Tulsi because we need fresh leadership in Congress. Senator Inouye and Congresswoman Patsy Mink were first elected to Congress when they were in their thirties. We need to elect Tulsi now so we have a strong leader for the next generation earning seniority and working with the entire Hawai’i Congressional team to get things done for us in Congress."
Tulsi Gabbard continues to make big strides in her campaign against Mufi Hannemann for Hawai’i’s 2nd Congressional District. This week Tulsi announced that her campaign continues to keep pace with Hannemann’s fundraising, raising over $570,000 to fund her campaign efforts. Earlier this week, several women, including Honolulu Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, Dr. Nancie Caraway, and Dr. Amy Agbayani launched Women for Tulsi, a grassroots efforts to encourage women across Hawai’i to support Tulsi and vote for her in the Democratic Primary on August 11th.
Additional release with photograph download available shortly.
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As a member of the Hawai’i National Guard, Tulsi Gabbard served two tours of duty in the Middle East. She was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for her service and was recently commissioned as a Captain.
A Democrat, Tulsi was the youngest woman in America ever elected to a state legislature when in 2002 at the age of 21 she won a Hawaii State House seat. Two years later Tulsi sacrificed her position in the legislature to voluntarily join her fellow soldiers being deployed to a war zone in Iraq. Between her two deployments to the Middle East, Tulsi served as an aide to Senator Daniel Akaka in the U.S. Senate. In 2010 she was elected to the Honolulu City Council where she chairs the Safety, Economic Development, and Government Affairs committee. Gabbard is a candidate for Hawaii's second congressional district encompassing rural Oahu and the Neighbor Islands.