Dee Duponte

Dee Duponte
Member of the Hawaii Territorial House of Representatives representing Maui
In office 1951–1955
Member of the Hawaii Territorial Senate
In office 1955–1957
Personal details
Born	Adelia Ashby c. 1908–1909 Augusta, Indiana, U.S.
Died	(1971-04-22)April 22, 1971 Maluhia Hospital, Hawaii, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Harold Duponte ​ (div. 1958)​

Adelia Ashby "Dee" Duponte (born Adelia Ashby; c. 1908/1909 – April 22, 1971)^[1] was an American politician. She was a Democratic Representative and later Senator for Maui in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature. Her term as Territorial Senator ended in 1957. In 1958, she attempted suicide in her Waikiki apartment and was subsequently hospitalized until her death in 1971.

Born in Augusta, Indiana, Duponte moved to the Territory of Hawaii from Kentucky and held a supervisory position at the Maui Pineapple Company for 14 years. Her 1948 firing made her a household name on Maui after she claimed that it was motivated by her husband's campaign to be County Attorney as a Democrat, and additionally led to an upset election the same year in which the Republicans were widely defeated. In 1950, Duponte was elected to the House of Representatives in the Hawaii Territorial Legislature after beginning her campaign late in the election season. As of 1951, she was the only woman Democrat in the Territorial Legislature. Her political views made her a controversial figure in the Territorial House.

In 1954, Duponte was elected to the Hawaii Territorial Senate. The same year, Duponte moved from Maui to Honolulu, separating from her husband after he had an extramarital affair and fathered a child. Her term in the Hawaii Territorial Senate ended in 1957, and she and her husband were divorced in 1958. On November 20, 1958, she attempted suicide in her Waikiki apartment after discovering that her husband had remarried. She survived a self-inflicted gunshot to her head, and was hospitalized for over a decade before her eventual death, experiencing partial paralysis. She died in April 1971, at the age of 61 or 63.