Tulsi Gabbard (born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and Hawaii Army National Guard major serving as the U.S. Representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district. Elected in 2012, she is the first practicing Hindu and the first Samoan-American member of Congress. Gabbard was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives in 2002 and was the first state legislator to voluntarily leave public office for a tour of duty in a war zone. She served in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 and was deployed to Kuwait from 2008 to 2009. She was a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee from 2013 to 2016, resigning to endorse Bernie Sanders for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination.
Gabbard's 2020 Democratic presidential campaign platform was economically and socially progressive, supporting Medicare for All and codifying Roe v. Wade into federal law. She opposed LGBT rights prior to her first military tour but apologized in 2011 and now supports them. She opposes military interventionism but describes herself as a "hawk" on terrorism. Her meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and skepticism about his use of chemical weapons caused controversy. On October 25, 2019, she announced she would not seek another term in Congress.
United States
