State Sen. Kai Kahele is well on his way to becoming Hawaii’s next congressman.
Kahele, who’s running for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, was far and away the frontrunner in Saturday’s mail-in primary, leading all other Democrats with 66% of the vote in early returns.
The next closet challenger was Brian Evans who had 8%.
If Kahele wins in the general election in November, which he’s expected to do, he will replace U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who decided not to run for re-election after a failed presidential campaign that put her at odds with her once admiring constituents.
The leading Republican in Saturday’s primary was Joe Akana with 38.6% of the vote.
State Sen. Kai Kahele is expected to win Saturday’s Democratic primary for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District.
Cory Lum/Civil Beat
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Case also will move on to the Nov. 3 general election in the race to represent Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, which encompasses urban Oahu.
Case, who is seeking a second term, did not face a Democratic challenger in Saturday’s primary — he had 86.2% of the vote after early returns — and, like Kahele, is likely to beat his Republican challenger in November due to Democrats’ long-standing stranglehold on electoral politics in the islands.
Case said he was overjoyed at the high voter turnout via mail-in voting and noted that many of the races statewide were competitive.
“I think that was a major victory for the process tonight, a lot of it prompted by the COVID-19 crisis and people being angry at their government,” he said. “I think that when things are good, then government is not held to account. But when things are like they are today, people definitely want to weigh in on their current leaders and make choices on who they want to take things forward in a crisis.”
Ron Curtis was leading the five-person Republican field with 34% of the vote. Nancy Lynn Olson trailed with 16.8% followed by James Dickens at 16.7%. Several third-party candidates are also in both the CD1 and CD2 races this fall.
Sizable War Chest
Kahele, who’s a Hawaiian Airlines pilot and lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Air National Guard, announced his bid in January 2019, just one week after Gabbard said she was running for president.
Early on, he secured the endorsements of three former governors — John Waihee, Ben Cayetano and Neil Abercrombie — and promised voters that he would dedicate his time in Washington to his Hawaii constituents rather than his own political ambitions.
By the time Gabbard announced in October 2019 that she would not seek reelection, Kahele’s campaign already had a sizable war chest. He continued to lock up major endorsements both in Hawaii and Washington, D.C., in the following months.
Once COVID-19 began its deadly spread across the globe — effectively shutting down door-to-door campaigning — Kahele had already cemented himself as Gabbard’s most likely successor.
Should he win in November, Kahele will be the first Native Hawaiian to serve in Congress since U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka retired in 2012 and only the second Hawaiian since statehood.
Rep. Ed Case is running for reelection to represent Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District.
Kuʻu Kauanoe/Civil Beat
Case’s primary win is anticipated in part because he’s an incumbent, which gives him tremendous advantage.
Case beat out a crowded field in the 2018 Democratic primary after then-U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa decided to run for governor.
He had previously represented Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District from November 2002 to January 2007. After winning the general election in 2018, he returned to Washington as a member of one of the most diverse freshman classes in U.S. history.
Case used his seniority and connections to secure a seat on the coveted House Appropriations Committee, where he works to funnel federal dollars back to Hawaii.
He also avoided controversy back home in part by toeing the Democratic line on issues ranging from police reform and the need to take dark money out of politics to the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
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US House: Kahele, Case Poised To Win Primaries - Honolulu Civil Beat
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