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Incumbents Hirono, Case, Tokuda cruise to Democratic primary victories

COURTESY PHOTOS
                                U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Senate Republican candidate Bob McDermott.

COURTESY PHOTOS

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and U.S. Senate Republican candidate Bob McDermott.

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Three-fourths of Hawaii’s congressional delegation easily moved past their primary opponents today and onto the General Election ballot in November.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono, Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case all topped their respective Democratic tickets. The second tally of results by the state Office of Elections representing a large majority of votes cast showed Hirono with nearly 91% of the party vote, while Case was cruising with 92% and Tokuda capturing a solid 100% running unopposed.

U.S. senators serve six-year terms while members of the House of Representatives are up for re-election every two years. Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz, also a Democrat, is not on the ballot this year.

Hirono was elected to the Senate in 2012 when she replaced the retiring Sen. Daniel K. Akaka and was re-elected in 2018. She previously served in the U.S. House of Representatives representing Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional district after winning the election in 2006.

She will face former state legislator Republican Bob McDermott, who was far ahead of his GOP opponents Saturday, and Green Party candidate Emma Pohlman.

Hirono said in a statement that she is “honored and grateful to Hawaii’s voters for once again putting their faith in me.”

“We can’t stop now. Work remains to protect our fundamental rights, defend our democracy, continue lowering costs, ensure Red Hill’s safe closure, and support Maui’s recovery,” Hirono said. “I’m committed to continuing that work in the Senate and delivering for families across our state. We’re in this together.”

Tokuda, who represents the 2nd Congressional District covering the neighbor islands and the Windward Oahu, was first elected in 2022 after serving in the state Senate.

As per her tradition, Tokuda was up early sign-waving with her family at 6:30 a.m. at the intersection of Kamehameha Highway and Kaneohe Bay Drive.

From there she moved on to Kapolei before attending an open house at the Daniel Kahikina Akaka VA Clinic to commemorate the anniversary of the PACT Act, a law that expands VA health care and benefits for Veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange, and other toxic substances, before wrapping the day back in her hometown.

“For me, that tradition of starting and ending with my day with my feet in my hometown is really important for me. I never take any race for granted even if I am up against blank vote,” said Tokuda, who noted her campaign focused on grassroots campaigning. “It (uncontested primary) allowed us to continue to focus on the work for our constituents. We have just got so much work to do for the people so we focused on that.”

She will face Republican Steve Bond, who ran unopposed, and Libertarian Aaron Toman.

Case, currently serving his fifth full term, was first elected to Congress by winner-take-all special elections to replace Patsy Mink in November 2002 and January 2003.

Case was re-elected to a second full term in 2004.

He served in Congress until he unsuccessfully challenged Akaka in the 2006 U.S. Senate primary. Case returned to his private law practice before winning the 1st congressional district seat in 2018.

Case was easily re-elected in 2020 and in 2022.

In between sign-waving sessions in Ewa Beach Saturday, Case said primary elections early in his career were focused on introducing constituents to his resume and work, and “getting them comfortable that you could do the job.”

“Now that I’ve had this job for 10 years, people generally know … who I am and what I am trying to achieve,” he said. “So the way I’ve approached this primary is to do the job that I have as well as I possibly can because I believe that if people think you are doing a good job they will vote for you to continue that job. So that has been my focus.”

In November, he will face Republican Patrick Largey, who ran unopposed.


Click here to view the latest results from the 2024 primary election.


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