Case, Schatz and Tokuda win Hawaii’s 3 congressional races

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Ed Case overwhelmingly kept seats their seats in Tuesday’s general election and will be joined by newcomer Jill Tokuda, who prevailed in the race for Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District.

Tokuda will take over the seat of one-term U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, who gave up his position in Washington to pursue a failed gubernatorial bid in Hawaii’s summer primary election. In her race for the 2nd District, which includes rural Oahu and the neighboring islands, Tokuda faced off against Republican Joe Akana and Libertarian Michelle Tippens. Tokuda ran as a progressive supporting medicare for all, tightening gun restrictions and vowing action on climate change and high housing costs.

Schatz ran for re-election to the U.S. Senate against Republican state Rep. Bob McDermott. McDermott’s campaign centered mostly around criticizing Hawaii’s Democratic congressional delegation for waiting until the November 2021 contamination of the Navy’s water system by fuel from the underground Red Hill fuel facility to take serious action on long-running concerns about the aging World War II-era facility.

In media interviews, McDermott acknowledged that he was unlikely to win, but said he wanted to highlight issues around Red Hill and give Hawaii residents an alternative option.

Case will continue representing Urban Honolulu as the representative for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District after a run against Republican challenger Conrad Kress, a former Navy SEAL who served as the command surgeon for Special Operations Command Pacific.

Go to https://staradvertiser.com/election for updates, resources and live results from today’s Hawaii General Election.