Hawaii government leaders and political observers expressed surprise, praise, pride and a bit of ridicule over longtime local official Tulsi Gabbard’s selection by Republican President-elect Donald Trump as the next director of national intelligence.

Gabbard, who represented parts of Hawaii as a Democrat in the state Legislature and in Congress before criticizing and leaving the party in 2022, was announced Wednesday as Trump’s nominee for the Cabinet-level job after helping Trump win the recent presidential election .

Honolulu City Councilwoman Esther Kia’aina, assistant secretary for insular areas at the U.S. Department of the Interior under President Barack Obama’s Democratic administration, said she was pleasantly surprised by where Gabbard ended up.

“As a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, a former member of Congress on the House Armed Services Committee, and a Pacific Islander, Tulsi Gabbard is uniquely qualified to align our national intelligence resources with the threats we face within the continental United States. both within the Indo-Pacific region and internationally,” Kia’aina said in a statement.

Kia’aina, who along with former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann lost to Gabbard in 2012 for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, also said she believes Gabbard will skillfully represent Hawaii, the Pacific Islands and the country will represent in her position, which is subject to the Senate. confirmation.

State Rep. Gene Ward (R, Hawaii Kai-Kalama Valley) expects Gabbard to take on somewhat of a watchdog role in his position. His duties include providing the president with daily briefings on national intelligence as leader of a coalition of 18 federal organizations that include the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

“It’s going to be an interesting future for her and for those agencies because she is a no-nonsense person who gets the facts straight,” Ward said. “Go girl, go.”

Local attorney Ernie Martin, who previously served on the Honolulu City Council with Gabbard and ran for a U.S. House seat as a Democrat in 2018, said in an email: “It comes as no surprise to me that Tulsi has achieved this position, given her political aptitude, ambition and affinity with our state and our country. I wish her the best as Director of National Intelligence.”

Tamara McKay, state chairwoman of the Republican Party of Hawaii, called Gabbard’s nomination fantastic.

“Her roots are back here, her party switching and her involvement in the Trump campaign I think will help bring some attention to our state, and hopefully that will propel us in a better direction with our local economy,” McKay said.

Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, said in a statement that he hopes Gabbard, whom he has known for a long time, “can bring some Aloha to the new administration. This will be an era that truly tests humanity and our willingness to treat vulnerable people with compassion.”

U.S. Senator Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) criticized Trump for this choice.

“Along with many of the nominations announced by Donald Trump to date, the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to lead our nation’s intelligence community reflects how little seriously the president-elect treats positions of critical importance and trust,” Hirono said in a statement . With his new nomination, Trump makes it even clearer that the only thing he is serious about is destroying our country.”

Political scientist Colin Moore of the University of Hawaii at Manoa said he was surprised by Gabbard’s appointment because she lacks high-level national intelligence experience.

Moore expects Gabbard will struggle to win confirmation in the Republican-controlled Senate because of his experience, policy positions and past activities, including meeting with accused war criminal and Syrian President Bashar Assad in 2017 while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

However, Moore also said Gabbard represents someone who aligns with Trump’s foreign policy views and is being rewarded for her help during the election.

“It certainly fits in with Trump’s ‘America-first’ vision of American foreign policy,” Moore said. “Gabbard is well known for her non-interventionist views on foreign policy. She is a deep critic of U.S. foreign policy, which includes the intelligence community. This certainly signals a major shake-up that Trump promised.”

Moore said he believed Trump would give Gabbard a job in his administration, but more along the lines of something like heading the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Gabbard is a veteran who served in the Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020 and is currently a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve.

A native of American Samoa, Gabbard was first elected in 2002 when she successfully ran to represent parts of Leeward Oahu, including Waipahu, Honouliuli and Ewa, in the state House.

Gabbard, then a 21-year-old martial arts instructor, became the youngest person elected to the Hawaii legislature.

In 2004, Gabbard was barred from continuing to serve as a lawmaker due to Hawaii National Guard rules that barred an active-duty member from holding office. Gabbard had enlisted in the Guard in 2023 and a year later volunteered for active duty with a unit that provided medical support to the 29th Separate Infantry Brigade.

Gabbard deployed to Iraq in 2004 and to Kuwait in 2008.

In 2011, Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council, representing downtown Honolulu, Alewa Heights, Kalihi Valley and parts of Makiki and Kalihi. She resigned in 2012 to run for a seat in the U.S. House, which she won. She served four terms in Congress from 2013 to 2021, representing rural Oahu and the neighboring islands.

Gabbard opted not to run for a fifth term, instead running in 2020 to become the Democratic Party’s candidate for president.

During her presidential bid, which did not receive much attention, Gabbard apologized for her work for an anti-gay group founded by her father, the Alliance for Traditional Marriage, which helped pass a constitutional amendment that authorized the legislature gave power to forbid the same. sex marriages before she became a state lawmaker.

Retired University of Hawaii political science professor Neal Milner said he was surprised Gabbard got such a high-level job in the Trump administration.

“She talks a lot about national intelligence issues. “I don’t think she has a lot of experience with that kind of in-depth intelligence work,” he said.

Gabbard’s father, State Sen. Mike Gabbard (D, Kapolei-Makakilo-Kalaeloa), said he is proud of his daughter and trusts her to do an excellent job because she has a sincere desire to serve the state and nation.

“Ever since she was a child, her sense of happiness has served ke akua (God) and others,” he said. “I believe she is well suited for the position and I am confident she will do an excellent job.”