Schatz, Hirono Boast Diverse Staffs In US Senate

The Hawaii senators hire more Asians or Pacific Islanders and Native American, Hawaiians or Alaskans than any of their peers in the party.

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U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz has one of the most racially diverse staffs among Democrats in the Senate.

He’s second only to U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, of California, who’s running for president in 2020.

U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, right, pose for a photo with former Hawaii Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa in 2017. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat

Newly released data from Senate Democrats show that 69 percent of Schatz’s staff identitifies as non-white. For Harris that number is 70 percent.

Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono’s office, meanwhile, is 54 percent non-white.

Perhaps not surprisingly both Schatz and Hirono’s staffs are made up largely of people who identify as Asian or Pacific Islander.

They also have the most staffers who identify as Native American, Hawaiian or Alaskan.

Here’s a breakdown of the data for Hawaii’s two U.S. senators:

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