Tulsi Gabbard

At 43 years old, Tulsi Gabbard has this physical status:

Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and Hawaii Army National Guard major who currently serves as the United States Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district.

She was both the first practicing Hindu and the first Samoan-American member of Congress, elected in 2012.

Gabbard's announcement that she would run for president in 2020 made her the first female combat veteran to run for president in the Hawaii House of Representatives.

She became the first state legislator to resign from public service for a tour of duty in a war zone in 2004.

Gabbard served in a combat zone in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and then deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009.

She served as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016, when she resigned to support Senator Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. Gabbard's domestic policy platform in her campaign for the 2020 Democratic nomination is both economically and socially democratic, and has been characterized as "similar to Bernie Sanders" in several respects.

She favors Medicare for All and expanding Roe v. Wade's reproductive rights framework by codifying it into federal law.

She voted and lobbied against LGBT rights in Hawaii prior to her first tour of service, but Gabbard has apologized for her previous positions and now supports LGBT rights.

Gabbard condemns military involvement in war but has referred to her as a "hawk" in terrorism.

Her decision to speak with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and expressions of doubt over the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War sparked controversy.

Gabbard declared on October 25, 2019, that she would not seek another term in Congress.

Early life and education

Gabbard was born on April 12, 1981, in Leloaloa, Maoptasi County, on American Samoa's most prominent island, Tutuila. She was the fourth of five children born to Carol (née Porter) Gabbard and her partner, Mike Gabbard. Gabbard's family moved to Hawaii in 1983, where her family had lived in the late 1970s.

Gabbard has both European and Samoan roots and was raised in a multicultural family. Her mother was born in Indiana and grew up in Michigan. Her father was born in American Samoa and lived in Hawaii and Florida as a child; he is of Samoan and European origins.

Gabbard was raised in part by the Science of Identity Foundation (SIF) religious community and its spiritual leader Chris Butler, but was not shielded from outside influences. Butler's work still guides her, she claims. Butler, Gabbard's guru dev (roughly, "spiritual tutor"). Gabbard's husband and ex-husband are both members of the community. Gabbard has been reluctant to discuss the SIF openly. Gabbard was homeschooled through high school, but not for two years at an all-girls SIF boarding school in the Philippines. Tulasi in Sanskrit is the word for holy basil, which Hindus regard as an earthly representation of Tulasi. Her siblings also have Sanskrit-origin names.

As a child, Gabbard converted to Hinduism.

Gabbard worked for a variety of companies founded by her father, including: :

Gabbard dropped out of Leeward Community College, where she was studying television production, in 2002 to run for office in the Hawaii House of Representatives.

Gabbard graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business in 2009.

Personal life

Gabbard is vegetarian and follows Gaudiya Vaishnavism as a Hindu. She describes herself as a karma yogi. She values the Bhagavad Gita as a spiritual guide and took the oath of office in 2013 using her personal book, which she gave to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the latter's visit to the United States in 2014.

She married Eduardo Tamayo in 2002. They divorced in 2006, citing "the stresses war places on military spouses and families" as a reason for their separation.

Gabbard married freelance cinematographer and editor Abraham Williams, the son of her Honolulu office manager, in a traditional Vedic wedding reception in 2015.

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Political career

Gabbard took the four-candidate Democratic primary for the 42nd district of the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002, after redistricting. Gabbard won the general election with 66.7 percent of the vote, defeating Republican Alfonso Jimenez. Gabbard was the youngest woman ever elected to a US state legislature at the age of 21, and she was the youngest woman to ever be elected to a U.S. state legislature.

Gabbard led resistance to, and protests of, a state bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions, and encouraged Hawaiians to endorse the Federal Marriage Amendment to prevent federal law from overruling state law regarding same-sex marriage.

Gabbard was asked for re-election in 2004, but he then volunteered for Army National Guard service in Iraq. Rida Cabanilla, a candidate, called on Gabbard to resign because she would not be allowed to represent her district from Iraq. Gabbard declared in August 2004 that she did not run for a second term, and Cabanilla took the Democratic primary with 58% of the vote. Gabbard's name was not erased from the ballot, although a state law prevented it from being deleted.

Gabbard fought for a seat on the Honolulu City Council after returning home from her second deployment to the Middle East in 2009. Gabbard came first with 26.8% of the vote in the 10-candidate nonpartisan open primary in September 2010. She defeated Sesnita Moepono in the run-off election on November 2 with 59.5 percent.

Gabbard introduced a program to assist food truck vendors by loosening parking restrictions. She also introduced Bill 54, which allowed city employees to confiscate personal belongings stored on public property with 24 hours' notice. Bill 54 passed and became City Ordinance 1129 after overcoming resistance from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Occupy Hawai'i.

Mazie Hirono, Hawaii's 2nd congressional district's incumbent, declared her candidacy for the United States Senate in early 2011. Gabbard declared her candidacy for Hirono's House seat in May 2011. The Democratic Mayor of Honolulu, Mufi Hannemann, was the most popular candidate in the six-way primary, but Gabbard led to victory with 62,8882 votes (55%); the Honolulu Star-Advertiser called her win "an explosive rise from a distant underdog to triumph." Gabbard resigned from the City Council on August 16 "in order to concentrate on her legislative campaign" and avoid the cost of running a special election.

Gabbard, the Democratic nominee, appeared at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, at the invitation of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who called Gabbard "an emerging star." She won the general election on November 6, 2012, beating Republican Kawika Crowley by 168,503 to 40,707 votes (80.6%–19.4%), becoming the first voting Samoan-American and first Hindu member of Congress.

Gabbard applied for admission to the U.S. Senate seat that had been vacant by Daniel Inouye's death in December 2012. Despite receiving help from several influential mainland Democrats, she was not on the Democratic Party of Hawaii's list of three contenders for governor Joe Brown.

Gabbard introduced the Helping Heroes Fly Act in March 2013, which aimed to enhance airport security screenings for critically wounded veterans. It passed Congress and was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The Military Justice Reform Act was also introduced in the House by the author.

Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2014, defeating Crowley once more by 142,010 to 33,630 votes (78.6%-38.6%). Libertarian candidate Joe Kent received 4,693 votes (2.6%).

Gabbard, along with Senator Hirono, introduced a bill to honor Filipinos and Filipino American veterans who served in World War II. The bill passed Congress and was signed into law by President Obama in December 2016.

Gabbard also introduced Talia's Law, which was designed to prevent child abuse and neglect on military bases. In December 2016, Congress passed it and President Obama signed it into law.

Gabbard was reelected on November 8, 2016, defeating Republican nominee Angela Kaaihue by 170,848 to 39,668 votes (81.2%–18.8%).

Gabbard introduced Off Fossil Fuels (OFF) Act in 2017, which aimed to "fully transition away from fossil fuel sources of energy to 100% clean energy by 2035 and other uses."

Gabbard introduced the Securing America's Election Act in 2018, which would mandate all districts to use paper ballots, resulting in an auditable paper trail in the case of a recount. Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog group, supported the bill.

Gabbard was reelected in November 2018 by 153,271 to 44,850 votes (77.4%–22.6%).

Gabbard and Representative Walter Jones (R-N.C.) cosponsored the No More Presidential Wars Act in September 2018, in an attempt to "reclaim the authority" of Congress in order to end these presidential wars that are being fought without congressional authorization.

Gabbard declared on October 25, 2019, she did not seek reelection to the House of Commons in 2020, blaming her presidential campaign. Senator Kai Kahele of Hawaii had been vying for the senate seat for the first time. Former Hawaii governor Neil Abercrombie's co-chair and his campaign's chief, Kahele, chastised her for missing votes while campaigning for president, especially the one on Syria; however, her absences were similar to those running for president.

Tulsi Gabbard and Matt Gaetz introduced a bill in October 2020 calling for the US to drop criminal charges against Edward Snowden. She introduced a bill with Kentucky Republican congressman Thomas Massie aimed at releasing Julian Assange from prison in the United Kingdom, where he was being held in detention pending extradition cases to the United States.

Committee assignments

Caucus membership

Gabbard was unanimously elected vice chair of the Democratic National Committee in January 22, 2013. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's decision to hold only six debates in the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries, down from 26 in 2008 and 15, respectively, and to exclude any candidate who appeared in a non-DNC sanctioned debate from all future DNC-sanctioned debates. In a Facebook post in 2015, Gabbard issued a statement about the tense and public debate surrounding the debates.

Gabbard was either "invited" or told not to attend the Democratic debate in Las Vegas on October 13, 2015, despite her public critiques of the debate process. In an interview with The New York Times, she discussed an unhealthy environment, saying, "no one told me I'll be renouncing my freedom of expression and checking it at the door" while doing the job. Gabbard privately wrote to Wasserman Schultz, accusing her of disrespecting the DNC's neutrality by favoring Hillary Clinton over others. In leaked emails obtained by WikiLeaks, this letter was later revealed.

Gabbard resigned as Vice Chair of the DNC on February 28, 2016, in order to encourage Senator Bernie Sanders for the nomination of President of the United States. She appeared on Meet the Press on the same day as she explained why she was stepping down. She was the first congresswoman to endorse Sanders and delivered the nominating address at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, putting his name forward.

Gabbard started a petition in July 2016 to end the Democratic Party's process of naming superdelegates in the nomination process. In the 2017 chairmanship race, she endorsed Keith Ellison for the DNC chair.

In California, Gabbard was designated as Bernie Sanders' running mate for him if write-in votes were required. She was mentioned as a potential presidential candidate in 2020 only a few weeks after the election. A Minnesota voter voted for Gabbard for vice president in the 2016 United States presidential election but later had the election disqualified and instead went to Tim Kaine.

Gabbard officially announced her presidential bid in February 2019. Gabbard was the first female combat veteran to run for president. CNN characterized her foreign policy role as anti-interventionist and her economic platform as populist.

After the first, second, and fourth Democratic debates in 2020, Gabbard was the most popular candidate on Google.

Gabbard did not reach the voting threshold for the third presidential debate, causing her to question the DNC's qualification requirements as not open. She did qualify for the fourth debate in Ohio in October 2019, but accused the media and the Democratic party of "rigging" the 2020 election and briefly threatened to postpone the debate before deciding to participate. She skipped the LULAC Latino Town Hall to appear on Hannity's television program, where she criticized the Democrats' impeachment process.

Gabbard was the only 2020 presidential nominee to visit Puerto Rico in July, leading to demonstrations urging Governor Ricardo Rosselló to resign.

Former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton said that Russia was "grooming" a female Democrat to run as a third-party candidate in October 2019, which would help President Donald Trump gain reelection by a spoiler effect. Clinton appeared to be referring to Gabbard, which Nick Merril, a Clinton spokesperson, appeared to CNN that the nesting doll fits; however, Gabbard has stated consistently that she would not run as a third-party candidate in 2020 and did not do so. Gabbard was defended by a number of fellow 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, who rebuffed Clinton's assertion that Gabbard is a Russian asset. Gabbard was also defended by Trump. Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit against Clinton in January 2020, but it was dismissed five months later. Gabbard retained two attorneys from Los Angeles law firm Pierce Bainbridge Beck Price & Hecht and Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, who also represented George Papadopoulos and Rudy Giuliani in her electoral bid against Clinton.

David Duke and Richard B. Spencer, who she disapproved, had endorsements for Gabbard's presidential campaign.

Gabbard, a first Asian-American and Pacific-Islander presidential candidate with Samoan descent and 26% Southeast Asian, received two delegates in American Samoa on March 3, 2020, making her the second woman of color (after Shirley Chisholm) and the first Asian-American and Pacific-Islander presidential nominee to earn primary delegates. She was also the only non-white Democratic party candidate to receive delegates in the 2020 election cycle.

Gabbard dropped out of the 2020 race and endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden on March 19, 2020.

Gabbard was the only candidate with primary delegates not accepted to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Gabbard gave her sole down-ballot endorsement to Democratic nominee Isaac Wilson, who was running for re-election in South Carolina's 63rd district against incumbent Rep. Jay Jordan in May 2020. Wilson later lost in the general election, earning 33.3 percent to Jordan's 64.7%.

Gabbard's Fund and Direct Relief and the Semper Fi & America's Fund, which amass, received $4,400 in June 2020, in June. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) sent a note in March that Gabbard's campaign had already been suspended and that her campaign had to refund all primary election contributions made after her campaign suspension.

Vanessa Guillén, a US Army soldier and victim of sexual assault who was found dead after being reported missing, and their counsel Natalie Khawam met with Gabbard in July 2020. She then spoke at their news conference on July 1, where she said she was "stand[ing] here for Vanessa," "for her family," and "for every service member who has suffered sexual assault or assault who has been embarrassed to speak out out of fear of reprisal."

During the 19th Represents Virtual Summit, Gabbard participated on "Electability" on the same day as Hillary Clinton but on a separate panel. She appeared on the pre-recorded recording, although not in the live recording made after Kamala Harris was announced as Joe Biden's running mate.

Dr. Jennifer Smith, the state's epidemiologist who blew the whistle about the Hawaii Department of Health's lack of contact tracers to cope with the COVID-19 crisis, was honored at a press conference later this month. Gabbard has ordered Hawaii DOH Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Sarah Park to resign, and it has been suggested that Hawaii Governor David Ige is partly to blame. Anderson resigned from his position in the aftermath, but Park was later replaced and put on leave. Smith was also put on paid leave, but Gabbard replied, saying that the move "further undermines the public's confidence" and that it "sends a chilling warning to others in our government who are doing the right thing" and that if they do not comply, they will be disciplined." Smith returned from work on November 2, 2020, after she had been on leave for almost a year. Park left the Hawaii Department of Health on February 1, 2021.

Gabbard was a host at the iHeartRadio Honolulu's virtual festival, Island Music Awards, and was named the winner of the "Female Artist of the Year" award.

Gabbard filed paperwork with the FEC in September 2020 to turn her presidential campaign committee, Tulsi Now, into Tulsi Aloha, a leadership PAC, as well as a legal expense trust fund to pay debts from the litigation against Clinton. She weighed in on the political differences surrounding Netflix's movie Cuties later this month, saying that Netflix was "help[ing] fuel the child sex trafficking trade."

Gabbard and her Tulsi Aloha PAC donated $2,800 to Nina Turner for the 2021 special election in Ohio's 11th congressional district in December 2020.

Gabbard's first podcast appeared in January 2021: This is Tulsi Gabbard. She has also appeared on Fox News programs since leaving Congress, including Tucker Carlson and Ingraham Angle, where she slammed politicians like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US Representative Adam Schiff for "undermining" our democracy and human rights in the aftermath of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, where she called them a "domestic terrorist" and "undermining" our democratic institutions and human rights. She called the victory of Republican nominee Glenn Youngkin in the Virginia Gubernatorial election over Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe a victory for all Americans in November 2021. In a public debate on Hannity in April 2022, she argued in favour of the Parental Rights Bill in Florida but that her vote did not go far enough.

Gabbard attended the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2022, angering Hawaii Democrats. Gabbard, the fill-in host for Tucker Carlson Tonight, appeared in August 2022.

Gabbard revealed on Twitter on October 11, 2022, that she had left the Democratic Party after accusing the party's leadership of "cowardly awakenedness, anti-white bigotry, (being) hostile to people of faith and spirituality, and moving us closer to nuclear war.

Gabbard endorsed a number of Republican candidates running in October 2022.

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