Warren Furutani

Warren T. Furutani (born October 16, 1947) is an American politician, who served in the California State Assembly from 2008 to 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Furutani was elected in a special election in 2008 to replace Laura Richardson. He previously served on the Los Angeles Unified School District Board, where he became the first Asian member in 1987 and the LAUSD Board president in 1991, and later on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees.

Warren T. Furutani
Member of the California State Assembly from the 55th district
In office February 7, 2008 – November 30, 2012
Preceded by	Laura Richardson
Succeeded by	Curt Hagman
Personal details
Born	(1947-10-16) October 16, 1947 (age 77) San Pedro, California[1]
Nationality	American
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Lisa
Children	2
Residence	Gardena, California
Alma mater	Antioch University
Profession	Politician

Early life and education

Furutani is a fourth-generation Japanese American. He graduated from Gardena High School in 1965. He attended several community colleges and earned a B.A. degree from Antioch University.

Activism

During the mid-1960s, Furutani became more politically minded due to the social climate of the nation at the time, in large part because of his own family's history. He became a civil rights activist and became involved in what were to become the early stages of the Asian American Movement. Furutani worked tirelessly to establish admissions programs for students of color at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He helped many campuses establish ethnic studies programs and was instrumental in UCLA and Long Beach State University adopting an Asian American Studies program.

Early career

He was one of 150 people to make the first organized pilgrimage to Manzanar in December 1969.^[2]

In 1970, Warren helped to create the Manzanar Committee that worked to get Manzanar designated as a national historical site.

Career

Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he served on the Los Angeles Unified School District and then the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. In 1987, he became the first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD and was the board's president in 1991. Furutani was elected in a special election in 2008 to the California State Assembly. He replaced Laura Richardson, who won a special election to replace Juanita Millender-McDonald as the member of the US House of Representatives from California's 37th district. He served until 2012 and did not run for re-election after that.

Electoral history

California's 55th State Assembly district special election, 2008^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Warren Furutani	48,419	69.80
	American Independent	Charlotte Gibson	10,785	15.55
	Libertarian	Herb Peters	10,168	14.66
Valid ballots			69,372	79.80
Invalid or blank votes			17,670	20.30
Total votes			87,042	100.00
Turnout				50.96
	Democratic hold

California's 55th State Assembly district general election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Warren Furutani	61,088	70.69
	Republican	Christopher Salabaj	25,328	29.31
Total votes			86,416	100.00
	Democratic hold

California's 35th State Senate district election, 2016

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Steven Bradford	50,998	35.6
	Democratic	Warren Furutani	35,024	24.4
	Democratic	Isaac Galvan	32,105	22.4
	Republican	Charlotte Ann Svolos	25,197	17.6
Total votes			143,324	100.0
General election
	Democratic	Steven Bradford	135,353	53.5
	Democratic	Warren Furutani	117,455	46.5
Total votes			252,808	100.0
	Democratic hold

Controversy

On June 15, 2011, during an Assembly debate on a redevelopment bill, Assemblyman Donald Wagner remarked that the bill was like something he had "seen on The Sopranos" and likened the author of the bill to Tony Soprano. After Assemblyman Anthony Portantino told Wagner to apologize for the remarks, Wagner replied that he would "apologize to any Italian-American who is NOT in the Mafia or involved in insurance scams". Within seconds, a verbal confrontation erupted on the Assembly floor between Wagner and Furutani and the two had to be separated.^[4]

Personal life

He and his wife, Lisa, are residents of Gardena, California.