Charles Djou

Charles Djou
Secretary of the ABMC
Incumbent
Assumed office May 2022
Preceded by	William Matz Jr.
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii's 1st district
In office May 22, 2010 – January 3, 2011
Preceded by	Neil Abercrombie
Succeeded by	Colleen Hanabusa
Member of the Honolulu City Council from the 4th district
In office December 2002 – May 22, 2010
Preceded by	Duke Bainum
Succeeded by	Lee Donohue
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 47th district
In office January 1999 – December 2002
Preceded by	Iris Catalani
Succeeded by	Colleen Meyer
Personal details
Born	Charles Kong Djou (1970-08-09) August 9, 1970 (age 53) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Political party	Independent (2018–present)
Other political affiliations	Republican (before 2018)
Spouse	Stacey Kawasaki
Children	3
Residence(s)	Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Education	University of Pennsylvania (BS, BA) University of Southern California (JD) United States Army War College (MA)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army
Rank	Colonel
Unit	United States Army Reserve
Chinese name
Chinese	周永康
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhōu Yǒngkāng Yue: Cantonese Jyutping Zau1 Wing5 Hong1

Charles Kong Djou (born August 9, 1970) is an American politician who served as U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2010 to 2011.^[1] Djou won his House seat in a May 2010 special election. He was defeated in the November general election after the Democratic primary provided a single opponent.^[2] He ran for but did not win his old House seat again in 2012 and 2014. Djou, who previously served in the Hawaii House of Representatives and on the Honolulu City Council, was the first Thai American of any party and the first Chinese American Republican to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. In June 2016, he entered the race for mayor of Honolulu, which he lost, 48% to 52%, to incumbent Kirk Caldwell. As of 2024^[update], Djou is the last Republican to have represented Hawaii in Congress. He left the Republican Party in 2018^[3] and in 2020 endorsed Joe Biden for president.^[4] After Biden won the presidency, he appointed Djou to be Secretary of the American Battle Monuments Commission.^[5]