Stay updated on Hawaii and national elections coverage
2024 Hawaii & National Election Coverage

Three-fourths of Hawaii’s congressional delegation cruised to re-election as U.S. Sen. Mazie K. Hirono and Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case held insurmountable leads over their opponents in the first vote tally released by state elections officials early this morning.

U.S. senators serve six-year terms while members of the House of Representatives run for re-election every two years. Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, also a Democrat, is not up for election this year.

Hawaii’s congressional delegation will have to work for federal resources for Hawaii with the White House and U.S. Senate, and possibly the House, controlled by Republicans.

Hirono was elected to the Senate in 2012 following the retirement of Sen. Daniel K. Akaka and was re-elected in 2018. Hirono, an attorney and former lieutenant governor, previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District after winning the seat in 2006.

Her opponents in this election go-round were former Republican state lawmaker Bob McDermott and Green Party candidate Emma Pohlman.

“I am honored by the support of the people of the Hawaii and the faith they have put in me to continue serving in the United States Senate, representing our great state. Hawaii is a state that is special in so many ways,” Hirono told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “It’s the state that welcomed my family and gave us the opportunity to make a better life. I am grateful for this honor, and I promise that I will never stop fighting for the people of Hawaii and the values we hold dear — diversity, respect and the spirit of aloha.”

Tokuda, who represents the 2nd Congressional District covering the neighbor islands and Windward Oahu, was first elected in 2022 after serving in the state Senate.

She told the Star-Advertiser that the “actions and words” used during the election cycle were a “stain on the hopes our founding fathers had for this nation” and urged everyone to do better.

“This general election will be the most consequential of our lifetime, and a historic opportunity for voters in Hawaii and across our nation to decide the fate of our democracy. And while all eyes are on November 5th, how we come together the day after, begin to heal and move forward is even more important,” Tokuda said.

She bested Republican Steve Bond and Libertarian Aaron Toman.

Case, currently serving his fifth full term, was first elected to Congress in winner-take-all special elections to replace Patsy Mink in November 2002 and January 2003.

He was re-elected to a second full term in 2004 and served in Congress until he unsuccessfully challenged Akaka in the 2006 U.S. Senate primary. Case returned to his private law practice before winning the 1st congressional district seat in 2018.

He won re-election with ease in 2020 and in 2022. His Republican opponent this time was Patrick C. Largey.

Case told the Star-Advertiser that regardless of who wins the presidential race, “we do know some things.”

“We know that we will wake up to a divided, polarized country and we must expect our leaders and ourselves to chart a better way,” Case said. “We know that we will all wake up still citizens of a truly great country that the rest of the world admires and respects and expects to lead and we must do so. We can and must do all of this; it is not a choice.”