American Samoan politician (born 1947)
Amata Catherine Coleman Radewagen
[1]
(
?-
MAH
-t?
RAD
-?-
WAG
-?n
; born December 29, 1947), commonly called
Aumua Amata
(
ow-
MOO
-?
), is an
American Samoan
politician who is the current
delegate
for the
United States House of Representatives
from
American Samoa
. Radewagen, a Republican, was elected on November 4, 2014, after defeating Democratic incumbent
Eni Faleomavaega
; she was the first-ever Republican delegate since the office had been created in 1970 and began her tenure on January 3, 2015.
[2]
She also serves as the national committeewoman for the
Republican Party of American Samoa
. Amata is the first woman to represent American Samoa in the U.S. Congress.
[3]
[4]
By winning 75.4% of the vote in her
2016
re-election, Aumua Amata attained the highest number of votes in American Samoa history.
[5]
She won reelection with 83.3 percent of the votes in a three-way race in
2018
.
[6]
She has been the scheduling director for the United States House of Representatives majority leadership for eight years. Radewagen has been the most senior member of the
Republican National Committee
since 2012. She was a member of both the executive committee for the 2016?17 presidential transition and the executive committee for the 2017 Republican National Committee Chairman's Transition Committee.
[5]
Early life and education
[
edit
]
Radewagen is the daughter of
Peter Tali Coleman
, the first popularly-elected
Governor of American Samoa
, and
Nora Stewart Coleman
, the former
First Lady of American Samoa
.
[4]
[2]
[7]
[8]
Her father was
Samoan
; her mother was of
Chinese
,
German
,
Native Hawaiian
, and
Scottish
descent.
[8]
Radewagen has twelve siblings.
[7]
[4]
She attended
Sacred Hearts Academy
in Honolulu, Hawaii, for secondary education and graduated with a degree in psychology from the
University of Guam
in 1975.
[9]
She also took classes at
Loyola Marymount University
in Los Angeles, California, and
George Mason University
in Fairfax, Virginia.
[4]
She is married to Fred Radewagen, and they have three children (Erika, Mark, and Kirsten
[4]
) and two grandchildren.
[7]
[10]
Radewagen holds the orator (
talking chief
) title of
Aumua
from the capital of
Pago Pago
?her hometown and where she is a registered voter.
[7]
[4]
From 1984 to 1997, Amata was the chief diplomatic correspondent for the
Washington Pacific Report
.
[4]
Political career
[
edit
]
Aumua Amata has been an executive assistant to the first
Delegate-at-Large
from American Samoa.
[10]
From 1997 to 1999, Radewagen served on the staff of United States Representative
Phil Crane
of
Illinois
.
[11]
She served on the staff of United States Representative
J. C. Watts, Jr.
of
Oklahoma
from 1999 to 2003.
[11]
After that, she served on the staff of the
House Republican Conference
from 2003 to 2005.
[11]
[4]
Radewagen first ran for Congress in the 1994 elections against Democrat
Eni F. H. Faleomavaega
. She failed to gain the nomination of the
Republican Party of American Samoa
in 1996 and 2000, and she ran as an
independent
in the 1998 elections.
[4]
Radewagen was appointed in 2001, by
President
George W. Bush
, as a Commissioner on the
President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
(AAPI); she chaired the Community Security Committee.
[7]
[12]
Radewagen was the only Pacific Islander on the 15-member commission.
[7]
Since 1994, Radewagen has participated in every federal election.
[13]
Since 1986, she has represented the
American Samoa Republican Party
in the
Republican National Committee
.
[2]
[14]
Radewagen is the most senior member.
[7]
[15]
In 2019, she was reappointed by
President Donald Trump
to serve on the President's Advisory Commission for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for a second stint.
[16]
United States House of Representatives
[
edit
]
2014 election
[
edit
]
Radewagen ran for
American Samoa's at-large congressional district
in the 2014 elections. She defeated the Democratic incumbent Delegate
Eni Faleomavaega
, 42% to 31%; former Democratic governor
Togiola Tulafono
finished third at 11% in the nine-way contest.
[17]
[18]
2016 election
[
edit
]
Radewagen was re-elected in 2016, receiving the highest number of votes in American Samoa history for any elective office, winning 75.4% of the vote cast.
[19]
[20]
[21]
Tenure
[
edit
]
Radewagen assumed office on January 3, 2015. Upon taking office, she became the
Republican Party
's highest-ranking
Asian-Pacific
federal officeholder in the United States.
[7]
Radewagen has a bipartisan track record. She was ranked the 28th and 14th most bipartisan Representative in the
114th
and
115th United States Congresses
, respectively, by
The Lugar Center
and
McCourt School of Public Policy's
Bipartisan Index.
[22]
[23]
[24]
Committee assignments
[
edit
]
Caucus memberships
[
edit
]
Election results
[
edit
]
Other activity
[
edit
]
Radewagen has been involved in helping build democratic institutions internationally.
[7]
As a trainer since 1992, she has participated in missions to
Kazakhstan
,
Cambodia
,
Kyrgyzstan
, and
Morocco
for the
International Republican Institute
and the
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
, among other activities.
[7]
[4]
She began advocating on behalf of
breast cancer awareness
after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993.
[4]
She is a founding member of the American Samoa Society and a life member of the
Capitol Hill Club
. She has also been a member of organizations such as the Guam Society of America, Hawaii State Society, Women's Foreign Policy Group, and the
Independent Women's Forum
. She is a current member of the Pan Pacific and Southeast Asia Women's Association. In 2003, Radewagen became the first Pacific Islander chosen as “Outstanding Woman of the Year” by the National Association of Professional Asian American Women (NAPAW). In 2008, she received the International Leadership Foundation's Visionary Award. In 2013, she received both the Inspirational Speaker Award at the Samoan Athletes Heart of Champions Ceremony in
La Mesa, CA
, as well as the Trailblazer Award from the
Republican National Convention
. She is a current board member at the Field House 100 American Samoa.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Amata Catherine Coleman"
.
Ancestry.com
. Retrieved
April 23,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
Fili Sagapolutele (November 9, 2014).
"1st Woman Elected as American Samoa Delegate"
.
Associated Press
. Retrieved
January 29,
2015
.
- ^
Gay, Roxane (2019).
The Women of the 116th Congress: Portraits of Power
. The New York Times. Page 28. Abrams.
ISBN
9781683357810
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
Kowalewski, Albin (2018).
Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, 1900-2017
. Government Printing Office. Page 558.
ISBN
9780160940408
.
- ^
a
b
"Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen"
. University of Hawaii. Archived from
the original
on August 6, 2020.
- ^
Lansford, Tom (2019).
Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019
. CQ Press. Page 1730.
ISBN
9781544327112
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Biography"
.
U.S. Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen
. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
- ^
a
b
"Nora S. Coleman, 85"
.
Saipan Tribune
. May 15, 2015.
Archived
from the original on February 23, 2020
. Retrieved
January 27,
2022
.
- ^
"RADEWAGEN, Amata Coleman"
.
Office of the Historian
. United States House of Representatives
. Retrieved
January 29,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
Congress, Joint Committee on Printing (2016).
Congressional Directory 2015-2016
. United States Congress. Page 300.
ISBN
9780160929960
.
- ^
a
b
c
"RADEWAGEN, Aumua Amata Coleman"
.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
- ^
"National Committeewoman"
.
gop.com
. Republican National Committee. 2012
. Retrieved
January 29,
2015
.
- ^
"Amata Thanks American Samoa Voters"
.
Radio New Zealand International
. November 7, 2014
. Retrieved
November 17,
2014
.
- ^
"Aumua Amata's Biography"
.
Project Vote Smart
. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
- ^
Gizzi, John (February 9, 2015).
"American Samoa's Radewagen Can Make a Difference in Committees"
.
Marianas Variety
. Retrieved
April 15,
2015
.
- ^
"Biography | US Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen"
. Radewagen.house.gov. November 4, 2014
. Retrieved
January 21,
2020
.
- ^
Cama, Timothy (November 5, 2014) ?
"American Samoa Delegate Loses Seat"
.
The Hill
. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
- ^
Official Results of the General Election 2014
Archived
December 23, 2014, at the
Wayback Machine
American Samoa Election Office. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
- ^
Sagapolutele, Fiji (November 9, 2016).
"Incumbent Aumua Amata heading back to Washington D.C."
Samoa News
. Retrieved
March 21,
2021
.
- ^
Election 2016 RESULTS_CONGRESS.pdf
- ^
"Biography"
. December 11, 2012
. Retrieved
November 30,
2017
.
- ^
The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index
(PDF)
,
The Lugar Center
, March 7, 2016
, retrieved
July 9,
2018
- ^
"The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index"
(PDF)
. Washington, D.C.: The Lugar Center. April 24, 2018
. Retrieved
July 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Aumua Amata tops bipartisan index"
. Pago Pago, American Samoa: Talanei. May 21, 2018
. Retrieved
July 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Members"
. Congressional Western Caucus
. Retrieved
July 18,
2018
.
- ^
"90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members"
. Citizen´s Climate Lobby
. Retrieved
October 20,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
"Election Statistics, 1920 to Present | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives"
. History.house.gov. September 11, 2001
. Retrieved
January 21,
2020
.
External links
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