Rick Blangiardi

Rick Blangiardi (born September 15, 1946) is an American television executive and politician from the state of Hawaii. Blangiardi was elected mayor of Honolulu in the 2020 mayoral election, and took office on January 2, 2021. He previously worked in the television industry and helped consolidate KHNL and KGMB into Hawaii News Now. A political independent, Blangiardi describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. Early life and career Blangiardi was born on September 15, 1946, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was raised there in a tenement. He signed a letter of intent to play college football for Boston College, but when his father, a munitions expert in the United States Navy, was transferred to Naval Station Pearl Harbor, he chose to attend the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Blangiardi played football for the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors as a linebacker; he was a letterman for the Rainbow Warriors in 1965 and 1966. When his mother moved back to Massachusetts, Blangiardi transferred to Springfield College, where he played for the football team and completed his Bachelor of Science in physical education and biology in 1969. From 1972 to 1976, he served as an assistant coach for the Rainbow Warriors under head coaches Dave Holmes and Larry Price. Blangiardi was the defensive coordinator and associate head coach under Price. He earned a Master of Arts in educational administration at the University of Hawaiʻi in 1973.