After the birth of his son Brandon in 1959, he worked a variety of entry-level jobs, such as a metal-packer in a junkyard, truck driver, apprentice electrician, and finally as a draftsman.Frustrated by what he felt were racially motivated and politically unfair hiring practices, he and his family moved to Los Angeles, California in 1963 in pursuit of an education in law.Cayetano joined the John D. Waihe'e III gubernatorial ticket in 1986 and became the first Filipino American lieutenant governor in the United States.In the closest election in Hawaii's history, Cayetano won a second term by a single percentage point validated by an official recount of ballots.On the other hand, labor disputes with UH professors and public school teachers in April 2001 led to simultaneous strikes by both unions that crippled the state's entire educational system for three weeks.[4] Cayetano subsequently lost the mayoral election to Kirk Caldwell, in a vote that was widely viewed as a referendum on the rail project.In an ad paid for by the Abigail Kapiolani Kawānanakoa Foundation, Cayetano asked President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to withhold $800 million for the project.
Cayetano and his wife, former First Lady Vicky Cayetano, ride in the
King Kamehameha
Parade, 2016.