Tokuda was elected to the Hawaiʻi State Senate in 2006, running unopposed in the September 23 Democratic primary.[14] She won the November 7 general election with 55.6% of the vote.[15] In 2010, she was not challenged for renomination and reelected in the November 2 general election with 56.4% of the vote.[16][17] In 2014, Tokuda was again unopposed in the August 9 Democratic primary.[18] She won the November 4 general election with 70.8% of the vote.[19]
While serving in the State Senate, Tokuda was Majority Whip and chaired the Ways and Means Committee overseesing the state budget.[20] She was also chairman of the Labor, Education, Higher Education, and Agriculture Committee as well as the Senate Committee on Hawaiian Affairs. While in the legislature, she successfully fought for expanded publicly-funding of preschool in the state.[20]
In 2019, Tokuda became executive director of the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center on Maui, a position she held until her election to Congress in 2022.[23] She also served on the board of the Hawaii Budget and Policy Center and as co-director of CyberHawaii, an affiliate of CyberUSA, supporting workforce development in IT/cyber security/data science.[9] During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tokuda advised the Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative and helped track the progress of federal relief spending.[24]
Upon her election to the House of Representatives, Tokuda became the third Japanese American serving in the chamber along with Reps. Doris Matsui and Mark Takano and the fourth in the United States Congress alongside Sen. Mazie Hirono.
On April 26 Tokuda delivered a speech on the house floor congratulating RuPaul's Drag Raceseason 15 winner Sasha Colby on her win.[30] Colby is the first winner of the race to be originally from Hawaiʻi.[31]
In 2023, Tokuda was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21, which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.[32][33]
In October 2023, following the 2023 Hawaiʻi wildfires which devastated the town of Lahaina within her district, Tokuda introduced the MAUI STRONG Act which would help small businesses and nonprofits in the area survive.[34] She also introduced the Natural Disaster Tax Relief Act which would reduce tax burdens on those impacted by natural disasters.
Tokuda is pro-choice. In 2023, she testified in favor of legislation in Hawaiʻi that would protect doctors who perform abortions in the state from legal repercussions for providing abortions to out-of-state patients.[42] She is a co-founder of the Patsy T. Mink PAC, named after former Rep. Patsy Mink, which works to elect pro-choice Hawaiʻi Democratic women to office.
Locally grown food and food insecurity
Tokuda advocates for the increase the quantity and quality of locally grown food in food-insecure communities, a significant step for areas like Hawaiʻi, which face unique challenges in food production and access and has introduced the Grow Your Own Food Act.[43]
Red Hill oversight
As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Tokuda has taken a key role as a "powerful watchdog" providing oversight to the Navy's plan to clean up Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility and its impact on Oahu's freshwater supply.[44]
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