Beth Fukumoto

Beth Keiko Fukumoto (formerly Fukumoto Chang, born March 30, 1983) is an American politician who served in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018, representing District 36. Fukumoto was the youngest person to serve as the House Minority Leader. In 2017, she changed her party identification from Republican to Democrat, citing concerns about racism and sexism. Fukumoto graduated with honors from the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a B.A. in American Studies and a minor in Sociology. She later received a M.A. in English from Georgetown University. In 2018, she ran in the Democratic primary for Hawaii's 1st congressional district but was defeated by former Congressman Ed Case.