Linda Lingle (née Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician who served as the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 to 2010.

In 2012, she was the Republican nominee for the United States Senate, vying unsuccessfully for an open seat vacated by retiring U.S.

In January 2015, Lingle was appointed as a senior adviser to Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner,[3] and left the position in July 2016.

[6] Soon after that, she followed her father to Hawaii, working first in Honolulu as a public information officer for the Teamsters and Hotel Workers Union.

[8] In 1994, Lingle easily won re-election over her Democratic opponent, Maui County councilman Goro Hokama.

[10] Its successful passage and execution earned for Lingle the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association for four years.

Barred from seeking a third term as mayor of Maui, Lingle was nominated by the Hawaiʻi Republican Party to run against incumbent governor Benjamin J. Cayetano.

Lingle capitalized on the anger of Hawaiʻi residents over the stagnant economy and their dissatisfaction with the strategies employed by the Democrats in attempt to solve the problem.

Internal reforms proved successful and Lingle succeeded in electing more Republicans to seats in both houses of the Hawaiʻi State Legislature.

Hawaii Democrats then nominated incumbent lieutenant governor Mazie Hirono; it was one of the few gubernatorial races in which both major candidates were women.

Lingle ran on her "Agenda for New Beginnings", a campaign platform developed to promote Republican leadership and highlight their criticisms of the previous 40 years of Democratic administration of the state.

When some polling late in the election showed Bush tied or narrowly leading Democrat John Kerry, Lingle attempted to help Republicans carry her state for the first time since 1984.

Despite the difficulty of finding an opponent for Lingle, former state senator Randy Iwase decided to run for governor.

In the primary election he easily defeated Waianae Harbormaster William Aila Jr., and ended up with former Big Island State Senator Malama Solomon as his running mate.

She told Kauai protesters that they would be charged under Hawaii's anti-terrorism laws if they continued to interfere with the Superferry's operation.

Noting that such a policy likely constituted unlawful discrimination in violation of the Equal Protection Clause, federal district court judge John Michael Seabright issued a preliminary injunction against the implementation of the substituted health care plan.

[30][31] The demonstrators were part of a sit-in to protest a school furlough policy implemented due to budget shortages.

[34] Ineligible to run for a third term, Governor Lingle was succeeded by Democrat Neil Abercrombie and left office on December 6, 2010.

After her failed Senate bid, Lingle taught a public policy seminar at California State University, Northridge, from which she had graduated in 1975.

[3] She was to join a trio of outsiders in May/June 2015 to work on problems such as the state's retirement system and low credit ratings.

[38][39][40] Weeks later, she delivered an opening-day speech at the 2016 Republican National Convention about Jewish support for the party and for Donald Trump as its presidential nominee.

[41] In January 2017, Lingle announced at a Republican gathering that she planned to move back to Hawaii in April 2017.

In her comments, Lingle described her leadership path and said that people aren't born leaders, but become them through handling failures and taking advantage of opportunities for success when others do not.

[49] Also in 2022, Lingle and others established a Hawaii Pacific University scholarship in her name for students showing a potential for exceptional leadership.

President George W. Bush appointed her to serve on the Honorary Delegation to accompany him to Jerusalem for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel in May 2008.