Hawaii Incumbents In Congress Are Easily Defeating Primary Opponents
UPDATED: Mazie Hirono, Ed Case and Jill Tokuda held wide leads over their primary opponents.
Editor’s note: These results have been updated as of 7:45 a.m. Sunday.
U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono far outpaced her two rivals in Hawaii’s Democratic primary Saturday and appeared headed to a general election race against Republican Bob McDermott plus two third-party candidates based on results announced Sunday morning.
Hirono had 84.6% of the vote compared with 6.9% for Ron Curtis and 2.1% for Clyde McClain Lewman.
“We can’t stop now,” Hirono said in a statement Saturday. “Work remains to protect our fundamental rights, defend our democracy, continue lowering costs, ensure Red Hill’s safe closure, and support Maui’s recovery. I’m committed to continuing that work in the Senate and delivering for families across our state. We’re in this together.”
Her Democratic colleagues in the House were also off to a strong start in early returns. Rep. Ed Case had 82.4% of the vote, well ahead of Cecil Hale at 7.1%.
Rep. Jill Tokuda, in her first term in Washington, faced no primary opponent and received 80.2% of the votes.
Tokuda represents Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the Windward Coast of Oahu, parts of the Leeward Coast and all of the neighbor islands.
Case, who previously represented CD2, today represents Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District. It covers much of Leeward Oahu, including the greater urban core of Honolulu.
In the Republican primary for Senate, Bob McDermott, a former state representative, had 45% of the vote, far more than his five relatively unknown opponents.
Green Party candidate Emma Pohlman and We The People candidate Shelby Pikachu Billionaire faced no challengers and automatically advance to the Nov. 5 general election against Hirono and McDermott.
But John Giuffre, who ran for the Senate as a nonpartisan contender, did not meet the vote threshold required to move forward to the general.
Another nonpartisan candidate, Calvin Griffin, also did not get enough votes in the CD1 election. But nonpartisan candidate Randall Kelly Meyer in the CD2 contest did meet the necessary threshold by getting more votes than the Libertarian candidate. So Meyer will be on the general election ballot.
Case, the Democrat, will run against Republican Patrick Largey in November. And Tokuda will oppose Republican Steve Bond and Libertarian Party candidate Aaron Toman. None of them faced opposition.
Members of Hawaii’s delegation in Washington, D.C., have rarely been ejected from office in the state’s 65-year history. And almost all of them have been Democrats Party .
Hirono has served in the Senate since 2013 and previously served six years in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The fourth member of Hawaii’s D.C. delegation, U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, is not up for reelection in 2024.
For a complete list of all Hawaii election results, click here.
