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Benjamin Jerome Cayetano (born November 14, 1939) is an American politician and author who served as the fifth governor of the State of Hawaii from 1994 to 2002. He is the first Filipino American to serve as a state governor in the United States.
Upon graduation Cayetano married Lorraine Gueco, his high school sweetheart. After the birth of his son Brandon in 1959, he worked a variety of entry-level jobs, such as a metal-packer in a Wrecking yard, truck driver, apprentice electrician, and finally as a draftsman. Frustrated by what he felt were racially motivated and politically unfair hiring practices, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1963 in pursuit of an education in law.
Cayetano attended Los Angeles Harbor College and transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles in 1966. In 1968, he graduated from UCLA with a major in political science and minor in American history. In 1971, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School at the Loyola Marymount University.
In 1972, Cayetano was appointed to the Hawaii Housing Authority by Governor John A. Burns. In 1974, he was elected to the state house as a Democrat representing Pearl City.
In 1998, Mayor of Maui Linda Lingle was nominated by the Republican Party to run against Cayetano on an agenda of government reform. For months leading into election day, Cayetano trailed Lingle in the major media polls. In the closest election in Hawaii's history, Cayetano won a second term by a single percentage point validated by an official recount of ballots.
Throughout his tenure in office, Cayetano had to contend with economic uncertainty and serious fiscal problems. Declining tax revenues led to budget shortfalls, and the governor often found himself at odds with his fellow Democrats in the state legislature as he attempted to implement budget cuts to balance the state budget.
On education, the Cayetano administration built thirteen new schools, and he was able to persuade the teachers' union to extend the school year by seven days. Also under his administration, the University of Hawaii system gained autonomy over internal affairs. On the other hand, labor disputes with UH professors and public school teachers in April 2001 led to simultaneous strikes by both unions that crippled the state's entire educational system for three weeks.
Cayetano left office in December 2002. He was succeeded by former Republican challenger Lingle.
Cayetano is married to his second wife, Vicky Cayetano (née Tiu), whom he married on May 5, 1997. Vicky was president of United Laundry Services at the time of their wedding. She played a major supporting role opposite Elvis Presley in the musical film, It Happened at the World's Fair.
Ben Cayetano has five children. He has three children from his first marriage to Lorraine Cayetano: Brandon, Janeen, and Samantha. Vicky Cayetano also has two children, Marissa and William, from a previous marriage.
He appeared as himself in an episode of Baywatch in 1999.
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Electoral history
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Categories: 1939 Births, Living People, 20th-century Members Of The Hawaii State Legislature, 21st-century Hawaii Politicians, 20th-century American Politicians Of Asian Descent, 21st-century American Politicians Of Asian Descent, American People Of Ilocano Descent, American State Governors Of Filipino Descent, Asian American And Pacific Islander State Legislators In Hawaii, Democratic Party Governors Of Hawaii, Democratic Party Members Of The Hawaii House Of Representatives, Hawaii Politicians Of Filipino Descent, Lieutenant Governors Of Hawaii, Los Angeles Harbor College Alumni, Loyola Law School Alumni, Politicians From Honolulu, Recipients Of The Presidential Medal Of Merit, University Of California, Los Angeles Alumni
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