Editorial: Brian Schatz, Jill Tokuda, Ed Case for Congress

On Election Day, all eyes will be on Congress. Which party will control the House and the Senate?

Inflation and the cost of living have hit households hard, especially in Hawaii. Abortion rights — or lack of them — have become more than a theoretical issue. Federal energy policies can have a profound effect on Hawaii’s renewable energy goals. China and North Korea loom dangerously across our shared ocean. And then there’s gun control.

Democrats and Republicans have markedly different approaches to addressing these critical issues, so the stakes are high. Fortunately, island residents have been spared the brutal partisan bloodletting of mainland campaigns. But among the local candidates running for Congress, their positions on key issues reflect our divided national politics — from progressive to moderate to strongly conservative.

Here are the Star-Advertiser’s endorsements:

U.S. HOUSE

Congressional District 1 (Urban Oahu): Democratic incumbent Ed Case faces Conrad Kress, a Republican who is decidedly “not a polished politician.”

Both Case and Kress identify Hawaii’s high cost of living as a top issue. Kress, a retired Navy commander, also prioritizes crime and political corruption. He places the blame squarely on the Biden administration and House Democrats for wasteful and excessive spending, coddling criminals (and illegal immigration) and failing to allow efficient free-market solutions to guide energy policy. Kress is not a climate change denier but a “healthy skeptic” who believes fossil fuels like oil can have a role to play in any realistic energy future.

Case, a fiscally conservative “Blue Dog” Democrat, opposes what he calls “very high levels of inflationary federal spending absent specific demonstrated need.” He also has called for some market solutions, such as waiving the Jones Act shipping law for Hawaii. But he generally votes with his party on key legislation that can benefit Hawaii, including the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, social services funding and expanded environmental protections.

With his extensive experience — he has served in the U.S. House, off and on, for about nine years and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee — Case is better equipped to advance Hawaii’s interests in what promises to be a fractious 118th Congress, one quite possibly dominated by the politics of his opponent.

Congressional District 2 (Rural Oahu, neighbor islands): This open seat is being contested by Democrat Jill Tokuda, Republican Joe Akana and Libertarian Michelle Tippens.

Tokuda, a former state senator from Kaneohe, takes reliably Democratic positions. With Hawaii’s high cost of living top of mind, she would advance tax credits to support children and working families, and provide housing and food assistance to those in financial straits. She would expand access to health care, affordable housing and education for those on the economic margins. Tokuda also is firmly pro-choice, favors strong gun-control measures and supports aggressive government action to combat climate change.

Akana and Tippens tend toward more private- sector solutions. Akana wants to maximize business growth, eliminate the general excise tax on groceries, household items and over-the-counter medications and constrain federal spending. Both Akana and Tippens would target the Jones Act by amending it or exempting Hawaii from its restrictions.

For CD2’s constituents, many of whom live in far-flung, underserved rural areas, Tokuda is the clear choice. She’s a small-business owner with experience in tracking federal funding during the pandemic. In the state Senate, she held leadership positions from 2006 to 2018. That depth of knowledge about how government works makes her best suited to the difficult work ahead.

U.S. SENATE

Incumbent Brian Schatz, a Democrat who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2012, has been a strong advocate for Hawaii’s interests, so deserves to be reelected. His campaign ads emphasize how much federal money he has helped bring home, for affordable housing, clean energy development and infrastructure. He favors a mix of diplomacy and muscle to challenge China’s aggressiveness, but notes that the state of Hawaii can play only a limited role in national security policy.

Schatz’s main opponent, Republican state Rep. Bob McDermott, has made the Red Hill fuel leak fiasco his top campaign issue, saying that Schatz and the Democratic political leadership failed to confront the Navy quickly enough. He also opposes what he calls “the mainstreaming of transgender ideology in elementary schools” and wants an end to “the war on fossil fuel.”