Low voter turnout in primary election

Hawaii's primary election this weekend sported the lowest turnout in Hawaii primary history (to be clear, this was not a presidential primary) - that's 36.9% turnout.  Primaries do not usually attract high turnout, but there were three mayors' offices up for grabs this weekend.  Nobody seems to be worried about the presidential election, though.  Voter registration surged earlier this year in Hawaii and there has only been speculation that Hawaii's four electoral votes will be a valuable commodity despite their small number.

Old pals trump party politics. No joke.

Democratic Senator from Hawaii Daniel K. Inouye has been maintaining open and active support for long-time friend and colleague Republican Senator from Alaska, Ted Stevens.  Stevens has been indicted on corruption charges and has been receiving huge amounts of criticism, especially with the nomination of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for McCain's running mate.  Inouye, however, says that friendship comes before partisanship and has donated to Stevens' campaign and spoken several times on his behalf.

Will Inouye's actions hurt the Democratic ticket in November?  Unlike Senator Joe Lieberman, Inouye has not sought to discredit his fellow Democrats in any way and the Democrats are naturally downplaying his support for the Republican Senator.  Furthermore, while Inouye has donated $10,ooo to Stevens' campaign, he has given to no other Republicans and has given $175,000 to other Democrats and Democratic causes.  It seems that this is a genuine case of feel-good politics - one politician supporting another from the other side who he feels a connection to and compassion for.  Imagine that.

Hawaii Mayoral Elections

Yesterday, Saturday, Hawaii voters elected new mayors for Honolulu, the Big Island, and Kaua'i as well as other officials.  An article in the Honolulu Advertiser about Board of Education election results makes a forecast for the presidential election: the article is called "Early results show experience trumps change."  According to this article, Board of Education candidates who ran on on a platform of change lost to candidates who ran on experience.  Many of these experienced candidates were also the incumbents, and Hawaiians have a tendency to vote for incumbents, so the results are not too surprising.

Hawaii, strong for Obama fifty days out

With fifty days to the election, Hawaii is leaning strong for Barack Obama, who claims the state as his first home and visits his grandmother there.  The latest available poll from SurveyUSA in Feb. 2008 placed Obama in the lead with 61% support, and with McCain at just 31%.

Hawaii voted Democratic in 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 by almost always 50% or higher (in 2004, by 54%).  Hawaii has a Republican governor and two Democratic senators.  All of the state's U.S. Representatives are Democratic, as well as the large majority of its state legislators.  Despite its Democratic trends, Hawaii also sports a strong patriotism and often favors incumbents.  For this reason Hawaii became a battleground state in 2004.  Although there is not an incumbent president, Hawaii's preference for military and patriotic support may make this race closer than would be because of John McCain's military history and identity as an American war hero.  The election of Republican Linda Lingle as governor in 2002 after Democrats had held the office for 40 years also marks a striking moment in Hawaiian history.  Governor Lingle has enjoyed relatively high approval ratings.

Key issues in Hawaii currently have to do with the economy, the environment, and native Hawaiians' rights of governance.

Introduction to Hawaii Politics

Hawaii has a unique history of indigenous peoples and American domination.  In 1993 Bill Clinton actually signed an apology passed by Congress for the overthrow of Hawaii’s Queen Liliuokalani by American planters, businessmen, and U.S. Marines in 1893.  Hawaii has an incredibly diverse population.  In the 1950s, returning WWII veterans joined forces with unions and Japanese Americans to form a solid Democratic machine.   Japanese Americans make up the heart of the Hawaii Democratic Party because of their history of working in organizations and unions, Hawaiian Whites lean Republican, Filipinos are heavily Democratic, Chinese fall in the middle, and Native Hawaiians tend to be Democratic but are less likely to be politically involved.

Hawaii has 4 electoral votes.