The state Senate approved the nomination of Karen Nakasone as a circuit court judge on Oahu for a 10-year term.

The vote was 22-0.

Nakasone, 41, a deputy public defender since 1996, is the third judicial appointment for Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Nakasone, who worked as an intern for the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink and clerked for Simeon Acoba when he was on the Intermediate Court of Appeals, is also a former president of the Honolulu chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League.

Abercrombie previously appointed Sabrina McKenna to the Hawaii Supreme Court and Rhonda Loo as a Maui circuit judge.