As local Republicans stumble and Hawaii Democrats stretch their dominance in local elections, Hawaii becomes a nearly GOP-free zone.

The question to be raised then, is not how big are the Democrats’ muscles, but what are they going to be used for.

Hawaii is not on a path to becoming a functioning two-party state, and the primary election results show that it is also unlikely that there will be a change of hands on the levers of power. Last month’s election shows that despite some nibbling around the edges, the status quo remains firmly in charge.

The question is: What happened to Hawaii’s new Democrats, the progressives linked with Bernie Sanders who dominated in the 2016 presidential caucuses? Where did the fervor for change go?

Former state Sen. Gary Hooser helped found HAPA, Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, which last year actively started training people interested in local public policy with an eye toward change.

HAPA didn’t run candidates, Hooser said, but the program, dubbed the Kuleana Academy, showed trainees what it takes to win with a message of progressive activism. The election results were not good, but Hooser said he is not discouraged.

“My initial response was disappointment because only a few made it, but then when you look at the big picture, progressives in general did pretty well,” Hooser said in an interview.

“Two graduates of the Kuleana Academy won their House seat primary, and several others came very, very close,” he added.

Also, several Maui County Council candidates won a primary race, Hooser said, adding that “if the GOP had this kind of success, they would be doing backflips.”

Hooser said that with the Democrats in control of local politics, there is little competition among office holders.

“Even if we were all blue, we are not as progressive or liberal as we should be,” he said.

If Democrats are endorsing economic fairness and opportunity, why hasn’t the state Legislature moved to seriously raise the minimum wage? Hooser asked.

Many others asked for years why Hawaii followed, instead of led, in the struggle for marriage equality.

Other local political leaders are starting to privately add their own pressure for some progressive leadership.

While Gov. David Ige won the mild acceptance of progressive Democrats in the primary because of his opposition to the takeover of Hawaiian Electric by a company that would not endorse his stands for energy self-sufficiency, Ige has been more about studies than statements of action.

Kim Coco Iwamoto, who lost in her campaign for lieutenant governor, insists the Democrats must learn from progressives.

“Progressive candidates have exposed how similar the economic policies of Hawaii’s elected Democrats are to the Trump administration: Favor the rich over the working poor, favor the corporations over small businesses, and favor land owners over the renting class,” she said in an email interview.

Incumbents spent the election attempting to “rebrand” themselves, she said.

“They now claimed to be for ‘working families’ when in fact they had been keeping minimum wages lower than the marketplace actually pays, and keeping Hawaii’s corporate tax rate the lowest in the nation,” Iwamoto said.

That’s the kind of fiery call progressive candidates need, as Iwamoto said, to “step up, build these coalitions, and hold government accountable to the people.”

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.