In late 1994, longtime Windward Oahu Republican state Sen. Mary George announced her retirement in the middle of a four-year term. Democratic Hawaii Gov. Benjamin J. Cayetano made Whitney Anderson his first appointee to the State Legislature, selecting Anderson to fill the remaining two years of retiring George's term. Anderson ran for re-election to the Hawaii State Senate in 1996, defeating former State House Vice Speaker Jackie Young in one of the year's most hotly contested races. Upon re-election to his state Senate seat, Anderson assumed the Senate Minority Leadership position, a position he held until his exit from the Senate in 2000. At the time of his departure from the Hawaii State Senate, Anderson was Hawaii's sole state senator of native Hawaiian ancestry.