Cathy Bussewitz, an award-winning Santa Rosa Press Democrat reporter skilled in multimedia and data reporting, has been hired as a government and politics reporter for The Associated Press in Hawaii.

The appointment was announced Wednesday by Traci Carl, the AP’s regional editor for the West.

Bussewitz previously covered state government for the AP in two states, Nevada and California, in 2009 and 2010. While covering the Nevada Legislature, Bussewitz broke stories on suspicious contract awards and a historic state budget shortage. Bussewitz later covered the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the country’s largest public pension fund.

Bussewitz covered the wine industry in Sonoma County for the Press Democrat, a key beat for the newspaper. Bussewitz used her data and multimedia skills to produce a series in December on the expansion plans and holdings of the county’s most powerful growers.

“Cathy is a creative and aggressive reporter who understands the power of accountability journalism,” Carl said. “We are thrilled to have her back with the AP.”

In her new role, Bussewitz will be responsible for coverage of politics and state government in Hawaii, including the state’s federal delegation. She starts in Honolulu on March 3.

“We are very pleased to get Cathy for the islands,” said John Raess, chief of bureau for Northern California, northern Nevada and Hawaii. “She will bring an additional level of experience and enterprise to our coverage of the legislature.”

Before joining the AP in Nevada, Bussewitz worked as a freelance journalist in San Francisco and held an internship with the AP in Tokyo in 2007.

Bussewitz graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a master’s degree in journalism in 2007.