Born and raised on Maui, Troy Hashimoto is deeply rooted in the community and is a fifth generation Maui boy. The middle child of Noel and Kathy, he learned the value of hard work through days of working on his family’s persimmon farm. Both of his siblings, Chad and Leah are public school teachers.
Troy went away for college and earned a bachelor’s and Master of Business Administration from the University of Denver.
During his time away for school, Troy quickly realized how special Maui truly is and made sure to make it back home.
For nearly eight years he has served as Maui County Council Chair Mike White’s executive assistant, focusing on policy and budgetary matters. He also served as the chair of the Maui County Democratic Party for four years, on the State Central Committee of the Democratic party and served as a member of the Hawaii State Board of Education from 2004-2005.
He also serves on the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows Board, a year-long program designed to train community-identified future leaders. A Decisions Maui and Focus Maui Nui initiative, the Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows program was conceived to promote and develop future leaders through a community-based program designed to address planning for Maui Nui’s future.
In November 2023, Governor Josh Green appointed Troy to the State Senate to fill the remaining term for the seat left vacant by Gilbert Keith-Agaran. He serves as Assistant Majority-Whip and as the Vice-Chair of the Housing Committee. He also is a member of the Ways and Means, Education and Higher Education Committee.
Prior to the Senate, Troy was appointed by Governor David Ige in April 2018, to fill the remainder of the term for the seat left vacant by Joseph M. Souki. He was then elected outright to the House in August 2018 and reelected in 2020 and 2022.
In the House, Troy served as the Vice-Chair of the Transportation Committee (2018-2020), as the Vice-Chair of Housing (2020-2022) and as the Chair of the Housing Committee (2023). He also served on the Finance Committee, Education, Higher Education, and Judiciary Committee.
In 2021, Troy introduced House Bill 1376, which subsequently became Act 57. The legislation helped the State of Hawaii transition away from our eviction moratorium that was put into place to keep families housed because of the impacts of the pandemic. Mediation between tenant and landlords was central to the legislation and created an organized timeline for the moratorium to be phased out as federal rental relief was disseminated.
During his time at the Legislature, he has focused on securing funding for the Maui Memorial Medical Center and also our public schools. He is a 2021 graduate of the prestigious Council of State Government’s – West, Western Leadership Academy.