Warren Furutani

Furutani graduated from Gardena High School in 1965. He attended several community colleges and earned a B.A. degree from Antioch University.

During the mid-1960s, Furutani became more politically minded due to the social climate of the nation at the time, in large part because of his own family's history. He became a civil rights activist and became involved in what were to become the early stages of the Asian American Movement. Furutani worked tirelessly to establish admissions programs for students of color at colleges and universities throughout the United States. He helped many campuses establish ethnic studies programs and was instrumental in UCLA and Long Beach State University adopting an Asian American Studies program.

He was one of 150 people to make the first organized pilgrimage to Manzanar in December 1969."Warrne Furutani to Be Featured Speaker at 48th Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage," Pacific Citizen, 10–23 March 2017, p. 5

In 1970, Warren helped to create the Manzanar Committee that worked to get Manzanar designated as a national historical site.

Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he served on the Los Angeles Unified School District and then the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees. In 1987, he became the first Asian Pacific American ever elected to the LAUSD and was the board's president in 1991. Furutani was elected in a special election in 2008 to the California State Assembly. He replaced Laura Richardson, who won a special election to replace Juanita Millender-McDonald as the member of the US House of Representatives from California's 37th district. He served until 2012 and did not run for re-election after that.

{{Election box begin no change|title=California's 55th State Assembly district special election, 2008{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_primary/11_sp_preface_55ad_gen.pdf |title=State Assembly, 55th District Special General Election, February 5, 2008: Official Canvass |access-date=2008-04-14 |date=2008-03-15 |format=PDF |publisher=Secretary of State of California |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080417003253/http://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/sov/2008_primary/11_sp_preface_55ad_gen.pdf# |archive-date=2008-04-17 |url-status=dead }}}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change||party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Warren Furutani|votes=48,419|percentage=69.80}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change||party=American Independent Party|candidate=Charlotte Gibson|votes=10,785|percentage=15.55}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change||party=Libertarian Party of California|candidate=Herb Peters|votes=10,168|percentage=14.66}}

{{Election box valid no change||votes=69,372|percentage=79.80}}

{{Election box invalid no change||votes=17,670|percentage=20.30}}

{{Election box total no change||votes=87,042|percentage=100.00}}

{{Election box turnout no change||percentage=50.96}}

{{Election box hold with party link without swing||winner=California Democratic Party}}

{{Election box end}}{{Election box begin no change|title=California's 55th State Assembly district general election, 2010}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change||party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Warren Furutani|votes=61,088|percentage=70.69}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change||party=California Republican Party|candidate=Christopher Salabaj|votes=25,328|percentage=29.31}}

{{Election box total no change||votes=86,416|percentage=100.00}}

{{Election box hold with party link without swing||winner=California Democratic Party}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box open primary begin no change|title=California's 35th State Senate district election, 2016}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Steven Bradford|votes=50,998|percentage=35.6}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Warren Furutani|votes=35,024|percentage=24.4}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Isaac Galvan|votes=32,105|percentage=22.4}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=California Republican Party|candidate=Charlotte Ann Svolos|votes=25,197|percentage=17.6}}

{{Election box total no change|votes=143,324|percentage=100.0}}

{{Election box open primary general election no change}}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change|party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Steven Bradford|votes=135,353|percentage=53.5}}

{{Election box candidate with party link no change|party=California Democratic Party|candidate=Warren Furutani|votes=117,455|percentage=46.5}}

{{Election box total no change|votes=252,808|percentage=100.0}}

{{Election box hold with party link no change|winner=California Democratic Party}}

{{Election box end}}

On June 15, 2011, during an Assembly debate on a redevelopment bill, Assemblyman Donald Wagner remarked that the bill was like something he had "seen on The Sopranos" and likened the author of the bill to Tony Soprano. After Assemblyman Anthony Portantino told Wagner to apologize for the remarks, Wagner replied that he would "apologize to any Italian-American who is NOT in the Mafia or involved in insurance scams". Within seconds, a verbal confrontation erupted on the Assembly floor between Wagner and Furutani and the two had to be separated.[http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/california-budget-assembly-furutani-wagner.html California Budget Assembly] sacbee.com June 2011 {{dead link|date=May 2023}}

He and his wife, Lisa, are residents of Gardena, California.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.warrenfurutani.com Campaign website]
• [http://encyclopedia.densho.org/Warren_Furutani/ "Warren Furutani"] by Karen Inouye, Densho Encyclopedia
• [http://www.joincalifornia.com/candidate/13161 Join California Warren Furutani]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furutani, Warren T.}}

Category:1947 births

Category:Living people

Category:California politicians of Japanese descent

Category:Antioch University alumni

Category:Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly

Category:People from Gardena, California

Category:School board members in California

Category:Gardena High School alumni

Category:21st-century members of the California State Legislature

Category:Asian American and Pacific Islander state legislators in California