Incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Case was leading state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole in a landslide Saturday evening, 57.1% to 34.3%, in the Democratic primary race for Hawaiʻi’s 1st Congressional District, according to the latest counts from the state elections office.
Once the final votes are tallied on Sunday, Case is expected to represent the islands in Congress come 2027 given Hawaiʻi’s history of sending Democrats to Washington and the fact that there is little competition on the GOP side of the ballot in the race for the general election in November.
Case took a modest approach to election day and spent his hours before polls closed sign waving in the district. Unlike others who enlist supporters to stand alongside them, he waved at passing cars alone, throwing out shakas for passing drivers.
As he drove home from sign waving in Kapolei, the first batch of results were released and he realized he would almost certainly be returning to Washington for another term.
“Voters made a call and I accept that decision,” Case said. “I also understand that Jarrett ran a good, strong race against me and that he spoke for many people that have concerns that need to be encompassed within my continued service.”
Case’s victory comes as incumbent Democrats representing safe seats in Congress have lost in competitive primaries across the country. Voters in Hawaiʻi, however, appear to have rejected that anti-incumbent sentiment.
Keohokalole’s watch party at Sacred Hearts Academy was a reflection of both the hope that buoyed his candidacy and the disappointment of the evening. It started as a lively affair with food, music and Tahitian dancers. Keohokalole was draped in lei and surrounded by dozens of supporters.
As the early results came in, however, he was nowhere to be found and the celebration turned quiet. Later in the evening, he emerged to say that he had called Case to congratulate him.
“Ed is a good guy,” Keohokalole said. “We ran because we had policy differences and we ran because we felt that the moment called for more.”
The race between Case, 73, and Keohokalole, 43, drew national attention and was among the more intriguing contests on the primary ballot this year in part because of the lack of competitive races elsewhere in Hawaiʻi, but also because it pitted an established incumbent against a younger, more progressive candidate with a measurable track record.
Case, who first won the seat in 2018, leaned heavily on his seniority in Congress and the fact that he sits on one of the most powerful committees — appropriations — where he gets an outsized say over how federal dollars are spent. He argued that Hawaiʻi needs a steady voice in Congress advocating for residents’ interests while avoiding the heated rhetoric that adds to political polarization and gridlock.
Keohokalole, meanwhile, pitched himself as a changemaker who would speak out more forcefully on issues important to island residents.
He pointed to his success in the state Senate, and often touted his role in passing legislation designed to undermine Citizens United and restrict the influx of corporate money into the islands. Keohokalole also said he would be a more reliable Democrat who would toe the party line more than his opponent.
Keohokalole repeatedly criticized Case for voting for an early version of the SAVE Act, a strict voter ID bill that President Donald Trump has been pressuring Republicans to pass before the November midterms, and attacked him for not being more outspoken about the administration’s immigration enforcement actions.
Keohokalole, however, did not offer many of his own competing policy proposals, something Case cited when declining to engage with him at debates and community forums. As Case said of Keohokalole: “He offers no real policy proposals of his own, no alternative vision, no argument of effectiveness. His goal is heightened visibility by any means.”
That criticism didn’t deter Keohokalole or his backers. He was still able to garner the support of key figures in Hawaiʻi’s political class, including former staff members of and advisors to the late U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye and former Hawaiʻi Gov. Neil Abercrombie.
Some of Keohokalole’s backers bemoaned low voter turnout — estimated at 29% of registered voters — for the lopsided results, but they also celebrated the fact that Keohokalole is still a state senator with a bright political future.
“My view tonight is they ain’t seen nothing yet,” Abercrombie told Keohokalole’s crowd at the watch party on Saturday. “There’s a future for this big Hawaiian and there’s a future path for all of us in this room to be able to reach out to those who did not come out tonight.”
Keohokalole also kept pace in the money race, and received nearly $1 million in campaign contributions from a wide array of individuals and special interests, particularly in the shipping industry, which has long sought to unseat Case because of opposition to the Jones Act, a 100-year-old maritime law that he says increases the cost of goods in the islands.
Case also raised about $1 million, mostly from political action committees, including those with ties to the defense and sugar industries.
Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District
In the race for Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers rural Oʻahu and the neighbor islands, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda was leading her opponents by a wide margin that is expected to hold.
State Sen. Brenton Awa, a Republican, was unopposed and is set to square off with Tokuda in the November general election.
Tokuda received 83.8% of the vote, according to tallies from the Hawaiʻi Election Office. Her Democrat opponents split much of the remaining votes with Steven King at 3.6%, Greg Guithues getting 2.7%, and Kirill Basin with 1.4%. While running for office, Basin was arrested in two separate high profile incidents, one of which involved him brandishing a firearm at a government building on Maui.
Tokuda and Awa were the only candidates to report raising any money for their campaigns, with Tokuda hauling in about $820,000 to Awa’s $122,000.
