Amata Coleman Radewagen

Amata Catherine Coleman Radewagen[1] /əˈmɑːtə, ˈrædəˌwæɡən/ (born December 29, 1947), commonly called Aumua Amata /aʊˈmuːə/, 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 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]

Amata Coleman Radewagen
Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from American Samoa's at-large district
Assumed office
January 3, 2015
Preceded byEni Faleomavaega
White House Commissioner for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
Assumed office
2001
PresidentGeorge W. Bush
Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Republican National Committeewoman
from American Samoa
Assumed office
1986
Serving with Su'a Schuster
Personal details
Born
Amata Catherine Coleman

(1947-12-29) December 29, 1947
Pago Pago, American Samoa, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Fred Radewagen
Children3
RelativesPeter Tali Coleman (Father)
EducationUniversity of Guam (BS)
Loyola Marymount University
George Mason University
WebsiteHouse website

By winning 75.4% of the vote in her 2016, 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] In 2019, she was appointed by President Donald Trump to serve on the President’s Commission for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.[7]

Early life and education

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][8] Radewagen has twelve siblings.[8][4] She attended school for girls in Honolulu (Sacred Hearts Academy[9]) before she in 1975 received a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Guam. She had classes at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California and at 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.[8][10]

Radewagen holds the orator (talking chief) title of Aumua from the capital of Pago Pago, which is her hometown and where she is a registered voter.[8][4]

From 1984–1997, Amata was the chief diplomatic correspondent for the Washington Pacific Report.[4]

Political career

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] From 1999 to 2005, she served as staff on the House Republican Conference. 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 the White House Commissioner for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI); she chaired the Community Security Committee.[8][12] Radewagen was the only Pacific Islander on the 15-member commission.[8]

Since 1994, Radewagen has participated in every federal election.[13] Since 1986, she represents the American Samoa Republican Party in the Republican National Committee.[2][14] Radewagen is the most senior member.[8][15]

United States House of Representatives

2014 election
Main article: 2014 American Samoan general election § Delegate

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.[16][17]

2016 election
Main article: 2016 United States House of Representatives election in American Samoa

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.[18][19][20]

Tenure

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.[8]

Radewagen has a bipartisan track record, 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.[21][22][23]

Committee assignments

Caucus memberships

Election Results
American Samoa Delegate to the United States House of Representatives election, November 6, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Amata Coleman Radewagen (inc.) 7,194 83.28%
Independent Tuika Tuika 785 9.09%
Democratic Meleagi Suitonu–Chapman 659 7.63%
Total votes 8,638 100.00%
American Samoa Delegate to the United States House of Representatives election, November 8, 2016[26]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Amata Coleman Radewagen (inc.) 8,924 75.4
Democratic Salu Hunkin-Finau 1,581 13.4
Democratic Mapu Jamias 978 8.3
Democratic Meleagi Suitonu-Chapman 181 1.50
Independent Timothy Jones 171 1.40
Total votes 11,835 100
Republican hold
American Samoa Delegate to the United States House of Representatives election, November 4, 2014
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Amata Coleman Radewagen 4,306 42.0%
Democratic Eni F. H. Faleomavaega (Incumbent) 3,157 30.8%
Democratic Togiola Tulafono 1,130 11.0%
Democratic Mapu S. Jamias 652 6.4%
Independent Rosie Fuala'au Tago Lancaster 286 2.6%
Independent Meleagi Suitonu-Chapman 229 2.2%
Independent Tuika Tuika 201 2.0%
Democratic Tu'au Kereti Mata'Utia Jr 160 1.6%
Independent Mark Ude 143 1.4%
Total votes 10,246 100.00%

Other activity

Radewagen has been involved in helping build democratic institutions internationally.[8] 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.[8][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 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

References
  1. "Amata Catherine Coleman". Ancestry.com. Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  2. Fili Sagapolutele (November 9, 2014). "1st Woman Elected as American Samoa Delegate". Associated Press. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  3. Gay, Roxane (2019). The Women of the 116th Congress: Portraits of Power. The New York Times. Page 28. Abrams. ISBN 9781683357810.
  4. Kowalewski, Albin (2018). Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Congress, 1900-2017. Government Printing Office. Page 558. ISBN 9780160940408.
  5. https://www.hawaii.edu/pbcp/node/41
  6. Lansford, Tom (2019). Political Handbook of the World 2018-2019. CQ Press. Page 1730. ISBN 9781544327112.
  7. "Biography | US Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen". Radewagen.house.gov. November 4, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  8. "Biography". U.S. Representative Aumua Amata Coleman Radewagen. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  9. "RADEWAGEN, Amata Coleman". Office of the Historian. United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  10. Congress, Joint Committee on Printing (2016). Congressional Directory 2015-2016. United States Congress. Page 300. ISBN 9780160929960.
  11. "RADEWAGEN, Aumua Amata Coleman". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 2, 2015.
  12. "National Committeewoman". gop.com. Republican National Committee. 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2015.
  13. "Amata Thanks American Samoa Voters". Radio New Zealand International. November 7, 2014. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
  14. "Aumua Amata's Biography". Project Vote Smart. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  15. Gizzi, John (February 9, 2015). "American Samoa's Radewagen Can Make a Difference in Committees". Marianas Variety. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  16. Cama, Timothy (November 5, 2014) – "American Samoa Delegate Loses Seat". The Hill. Retrieved March 3, 2015.
  17. Official Results of the General Election 2014 Archived December 23, 2014, at the Wayback Machine American Samoa Election Office. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  18. "Incumbent Aumua Amata heading back to Washington D.C. - Samoa News". samoanews.com. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  19. Election 2016 RESULTS_CONGRESS.pdf
  20. "Biography". December 11, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  21. The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index (PDF), The Lugar Center, March 7, 2016, retrieved July 9, 2018
  22. "The Lugar Center - McCourt School Bipartisan Index" (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Lugar Center. April 24, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  23. "Aumua Amata tops bipartisan index". Pago Pago, American Samoa: Talanei. May 21, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
  24. "Members". Congressional Western Caucus. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  25. "90 Current Climate Solutions Caucus Members". Citizen´s Climate Lobby. Retrieved October 20, 2018.
  26. "Election Statistics, 1920 to Present | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". History.house.gov. September 11, 2001. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by
Eni Faleomavaega		 Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives
from American Samoa
2015–present		 Incumbent
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by
Stacey Plaskett		 United States Delegates by seniority
4th		 Succeeded by
Jenniffer González
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