This article is about the history of the politics of the State of Hawaii. For information on the political history of its two previous forms of government, see Territory of Hawaii § Organic Act and Kingdom of Hawaii § Government.
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United States presidential election results for Hawaii[1]
Year
Republican
Democratic
Third party
No.
%
No.
%
No.
%
2020
196,864
34.27%
366,130
63.73%
11,475
2.00%
2016
128,847
30.04%
266,891
62.22%
33,199
7.74%
2012
121,015
27.84%
306,658
70.55%
7,024
1.62%
2008
120,566
26.58%
325,871
71.85%
7,131
1.57%
2004
194,191
45.26%
231,708
54.01%
3,114
0.73%
2000
137,845
37.46%
205,286
55.79%
24,820
6.75%
1996
113,943
31.64%
205,012
56.93%
41,165
11.43%
1992
136,822
36.70%
179,310
48.09%
56,710
15.21%
1988
158,625
44.75%
192,364
54.27%
3,472
0.98%
1984
185,050
55.10%
147,154
43.82%
3,642
1.08%
1980
130,112
42.90%
135,879
44.80%
37,296
12.30%
1976
140,003
48.06%
147,375
50.59%
3,923
1.35%
1972
168,865
62.48%
101,409
37.52%
0
0.00%
1968
91,425
38.70%
141,324
59.83%
3,469
1.47%
1964
44,022
21.24%
163,249
78.76%
0
0.00%
1960
92,295
49.97%
92,410
50.03%
0
0.00%
Politics of Hawaii
Constitution
United States Constitution
Hawaii Constitution
Executive
Governor Josh Green (D)
Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke (D)
Acting Attorney General Holly Shikada (D)
Legislature
Hawaii Senate
President of the Senate Ron Kouchi (D)
Majority Leader Dru Kanuha (D)
Minority Leader Kurt Fevella (R) (de facto)
House of Representatives
Speaker Scott Saiki (D)
Majority Leader Della Au Belatti (D)
Minority Leader Val Okimoto (R)
Judiciary
Hawaii State Supreme Court
Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald
Justice Paula A. Nakayama
Justice Sabrina McKenna
Justice Michael D. Wilson
Justice Todd W. Eddins
Intermediate Court of Appeals
Circuit courts
District courts
Family courts
Land Court
Elections
Elections
Political Parties
Democratic Party
Republican Party
Green Party
Libertarian Party
National minor parties
Political party strength
Inferior jurisdictions
Counties
Census designated places
Federal representation
United States Senators
Brian Schatz (D)
Mazie Hirono (D)
U.S. Representatives
1: Ed Case (D)
2: Kai Kahele (D)
Politics of the United States
Politics portal
United States portal
Hawaii portal
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t
e
The politics of the U.S. state of Hawaii typically take place within the framework of a Democrat-dominated government. The Democratic Party in Hawaii was formed in 1900, by supporters of Queen Liliʻuokalani. For the first half of the twentieth century, the Republican Party ruled comfortably, dominating local politics until the end of World War II.[2] After the war, Honolulu police officer John A. Burns began organizing plantation laborers, including many Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans and built a coalition that gradually strengthened the Democratic Party in Hawaii.[3] This culminated in the Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954, after which Republican political influence in the islands was greatly diminished.
As a result, Hawaii's congressional politics are typically dominated by Democrats since statehood in 1959. The state has elected just one Republican U.S. senator, Hiram Fong, who served from 1959 to 1977, and two GOP House members.[4] The rest have been Democrats. Only two Republicans have been elected governor, and Linda Lingle was the only one to be re-elected, in 2006.
Hawaii has supported Democrats in every presidential election in which it has participated, except 1972 and 1984, when incumbent Republican candidates won 49-state landslides. In 2004, John Kerry won the state's 4 electoral votes by a margin of 9 percentage points with 54% of the vote. Every county in the state supported the Democratic candidate. In 2008, Barack Obama won by an overwhelming 45-point lead: 72% for the Democrat and 27% for Republican John McCain. Hawaii is the only actual state that gave either candidate more than 70% of the vote. Obama again won Hawaii by a large margin in 2012, suffering only a small swing against him, winning 71% to 28% for Republican Mitt Romney. Hawaii once again gave a higher vote share to Obama than any of the 49 other states, though on this occasion, Obama's vote was not quite as high as his challenger's best state (Utah, where Mitt Romney polled 73%).
^Leip, David. "Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Hawaii". US Election Atlas. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
^"History". Democratic Party of Hawai‘i. 2015-10-27. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
^Nakamura, Kelli Y. "John Burns". Retrieved 16 October 2014.
^Bernstein, Adam (2004-08-20). "Hiram Fong, 97; Senator From Hawaii for 18 Years". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-10-02.
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