Ige appoints DeCoite to empty Senate seat

HONOLULU — Gov. David Ige on Thursday appointed state Rep. Lynn DeCoite to fill the Senate seat left vacant by the retirement of former Sen. Kalani English.

DeCoite currently represents Molokai, Lanai and Hana in the state House. In the Senate, she will represent those areas plus upcountry Maui.

The Democrat lives on Molokai, where she is a homestead farmer. DeCoite will take office once the state Senate qualifies her and administers the oath of office.

She will become the 10th woman in the Senate.

Hawaii law requires the governor to pick a replacement from one of three names sent him by the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

English retired last month after more than two decades in the Senate, explaining that he had been diagnosed with long-term effects of COVID-19 and would need to address challenges to his short- and long-term memory and other cognitive issues.