HONOLULU (AP) — Former Sen. Daniel Akaka (uh-KAH'-kuh) of Hawaii has died. He was 93.

Jon Yoshimura, the senator's former communications director, says Akaka's daughter, Millannie Akaka Mattson, informed him of the death Friday morning in Honolulu.

The Democrat was the first Native Hawaiian elected to Congress. He was a 14-year veteran of the House when he was appointed to replace the late Sen. Spark Matsunaga in 1990. Akaka served in the Senate for more than two decades before retiring in 2013.

Akaka spent a dozen years pushing a bill that would give ethnic Hawaiians the same rights already extended to many Native Americans and Alaska Natives. But the bill was consistently blocked.

He successfully sponsored federal legislation that resulted in Medals of Honor for 22 Asian-American soldiers who fought during World War II.