Draft:Tommy Waters

Tommy Waters
Chair of the Honolulu City Council
Incumbent
Assumed office 2020
Preceded by	Ikaika Anderson
Member of the Honolulu City Council from the 4th district
Incumbent
Assumed office 2019
Preceded by	Trevor Ozawa
Member of the Hawaii House of Representatives from the 51st district
In office 2002–2008
Preceded by	Joe Gomes
Succeeded by	Chris Lee
Personal details
Party	Democratic
Education	University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (BA) William S. Richardson School of Law (JD)

Thomas "Tommy" Waters is an American politician serving as a member of the Honolulu City Council, representing the 4th district since 2019.

Early life and education

Waters graduated from Kamehameha Schools in 1983, earned a B.A. in Political Science and Speech from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 1989, and a J.D. from the William S. Richardson School of Law in 1993.

Political career

Waters was elected to the Hawaii House of Representatives to represent the 51st district in 2002, defeating Republican incumbent Joe Gomes.

In 2018, Waters ran for the Honolulu City Council. He was narrowly defeated by Trevor Ozawa, but the Hawaii Supreme Court overturned the election result after finding that late ballots were counted incorrectly. Waters won the ensuing special election in April 2019.

In 2026, Waters announced he would run for re-election to the Honolulu City Council despite term limits stipulating that councilmembers are only eligible to run for two full terms. Waters argued that, since he was elected in a special election for Ozawa's unexpired term, he had not served two full terms and could run again. In July, a court ruled Waters was ineligible to run and that votes for him would not count. He appealed.