Hawaii’s Democratic incumbents sail to victory in primary

Three of Hawaii’s Democratic congressional members cruised to victory on Saturday, lining them up to likely serve another term in the blue state.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono and Reps. Jill Tokuda and Ed Case all won their respective races over the weekend. Hirono, who has served the state for more than a decade, easily won her primary election with more than 90% of the vote.

Meanwhile, Bob McDermott, a former member of Hawaii’s state legislature, won the Republican primary with nearly 52% of the vote and will mount a long-shot campaign to challenge Hirono in the fall. Since statehood, Hawaii has only elected one Republican to the Senate decades ago and has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984.

Case easily won his primary race with more than 92% of the vote, lining up a general election matchup with Republican Patrick Largey, who ran uncontested in the GOP primary.

Tokuda ran for her seat unopposed and will be facing Republican Steven Bond, who also ran in the GOP primary unopposed, in the fall.

Hirono said on Saturday after the election that she is “honored and grateful” to Hawaiian 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 in a statement.

“I’m committed to continuing that work in the Senate and delivering for families across our state. We’re in this together,” she added.

Democratic primaries have gotten some attention this year, given rifts in the party over Israel’s war with Hamas. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Cori Bush (D-MO) both lost to primary challengers this year amid pressure against the liberal “squad” members.