2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Hawaii

Overview

District 1

Hanabusa:
Djou:

Democrat Colleen Hanabusa, who was first elected to represent the 1st district in 2010, ran for re-election.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Colleen Hanabusa, incumbent U.S. representative

Eliminated in primary

• Roy Wyttenbach II

Primary results

Republican primary

Former U.S. Representative Charles Djou, who represented the 1st district from May 2010 until January 2011, sought and received the Republican nomination to challenge Hanabusa again. He defeated C. Kaui Amsterdam and John Giuffre in the Republican primary.

Candidates

Nominee

• Charles Djou, former U.S. representative

Eliminated in primary

• C. Kaui Amsterdam
• John Giuffre

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Organizations

• Sierra Club

Organizations

• National Republican Congressional Committee "Contender" Program

Predictions

Results

District 2

Gabbard:

Democrat Mazie Hirono, who had represented the 2nd district since 2007, announced in May 2011 that she would run for the U.S. Senate rather than for re-election to the House.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Tulsi Gabbard, Honolulu City Councilmember

Eliminated in primary

• Rafael "Del" del Castillo, attorney and patients' rights advocate
• Mufi Hannemann, former mayor of Honolulu
• Esther Kia'aina, chief advocate for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs
• Bob Marx, attorney
• Miles Shiratori, financial advisor

Declined

• Tammy Duckworth, assistant secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and unsuccessful candidate for the House of Representatives in Illinois in 2006
• Josh Green, state senator
• Clayton Hee, state senator
• Mazie Hirono, incumbent U.S. representative
• Gary Hooser, director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control and former state senator

Campaign

Hannemann and Gabbard differed on the issue of same-sex marriage. Gabbard was opposed to the Defense of Marriage Act and to a proposed Hawaii state constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a woman and a man, while Hannemann supported DOMA. Gabbard had previously opposed same-sex marriage, but during the primary campaign, promised to work to repeal DOMA and co-sponsor the Respect for Marriage act. Voters initially doubted the sincerity of her new views on the issue.

Gabbard filed a 270-page complaint against Hannemann's spending,{{cite video

Candidates Marx, Gabbard, and Kia'aina debated on June 5, and Marx, Gabbard, Kia'aina and Hannemann debated in early July.

Gabbard's ratings in the polls increased steadily and Hannemann's dropped throughout the primary campaign; as of August 6, she was leading against Hanneman 49% to 29%.

Endorsements

Gabbard received endorsements from the Sierra Club, Emily's List, VoteVets and MauiTime.

Primary results

On August 11, Gabbard defeated Hanneman by twenty points. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser described her win as the "improbable rise from a distant underdog to victory". Gabbard credited grassroots support as the reason for her come-from-behind win in the primary.

Aftermath

Gabbard decided to resign her seat on the City Council, stating that she wanted to prevent the cost of a separate special election, and resigned on August 16.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Kawika Crowley, handyman

Eliminated in primary

• Matthew DiGeronimo, entrepreneur, motivational and business speaker, radio talk show host and former Navy officer

Declined

• Duke Aiona, former lieutenant governor of Hawaii
• Jonah Kaauwai, former chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party

Primary results

General election

Endorsements

Organizations

• Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee "Majority Makers" Program
• EMILY's List
• Sierra Club
• Veterans' Alliance for Security and Democracy
• VoteVets

Predictions

Results

References

References

1. "State of Hawaii, Office of Elections". Office of Elections.
2. "GENERAL ELECTION 2012 - State of Hawaii - Statewide". State Of Hawaii Office of Elections.
3. Trygstad, Kyle. (August 24, 2011). "Hanabusa Will Seek Re-Election, Not Bid for Senate". [[Roll Call]].
4. (August 12, 2012). "Hanabusa snags Democratic bid for Hawaii US House". [[RealClearPolitics]].
5. "PRIMARY ELECTION 2012 - State of Hawaii - Statewide". State Of Hawaii Office of Elections.
6. (August 17, 2011). "Djou announces run for Congress, will deploy to Afghanistan". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
7. (August 12, 2012). "Djou wins GOP nomination for Hawaii US House seat". [[RealClearPolitics]].
8. Gutierrez, Ben. (April 22, 2012). "Sierra Club endorses Hirono, Hanabusa, Gabbard in federal races".
9. "CANDIDATES".
10. (November 5, 2012). "The Cook Political Report — Charts – 2012 House Competitive Races". Cookpolitical.com.
11. (November 2, 2012). "House Ratings". Rothenbergpoliticalreport.com.
12. [http://www.rollcall.com/politics/race-ratings-chart-2012-house-elections.html], {{As of. 2012. 11. 04
13. [http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2012-house/ Crystal Ball], {{As of. 2012. 11. 05
14. [http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/ratings/house House Race Ratings], ''The New York Times'', {{As of. 2012. 11. 04
15. [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/house/2012_elections_house_map.html], {{As of. 2012. 11. 04
16. (November 3, 2012). "House Ratings". The Hill.
17. Catanese, David. (May 19, 2011). "Mazie Hirono to seek Akaka's seat". [[Politico (newspaper).
18. Trygstad, Kyle. (May 26, 2011). "Tulsi Gabbard Running to Succeed Hirono in Hawaii". [[Roll Call]].
19. "Tulsi Gabbard announces candidacy for U.S. Congress".
20. (November 3, 2011). "Hilo attorney Marx announces U.S. House candidacy". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
21. Joseph, Cameron. (August 30, 2011). "Former Honolulu Mayor Hannemann to run for House". [[Ballot Box]].
22. Trygstad, Kyle. (August 30, 2011). "Mufi Hannemann Announces Open-Seat House Bid in Hawaii". [[Roll Call]].
23. (August 10, 2011). "Office of Hawaiian Affairs chief advocate announces candidacy for 2nd Congressional District". Daily Reporter}}{{Dead link.
24. Pang, Gordon Y.K.. (August 11, 2012). "Gabbard upsets Hannemann". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
25. Daranciang, Nelson. (May 31, 2011). "Duckworth not considering run for Hawaii posts". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
26. (August 13, 2011). "'A possible path'". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
27. Gutierrez, Ben. (July 8, 2012). "Hannemann, Gabbard trade jabs in Congressional debate".
28. LaFrance, Adrienne. (Jan 17, 2012). "Tulsi Gabbard's Leftward Journey".
29. Tulsi Gabbard. (August 7, 2012). "@MAUITIME Yes, and if elected to Congress, I will work to repeal DOMA, and co-sponsor Respect for Marriage Act #NOH8 #LGBT".
30. Weems, Mickey. (July 5, 2012). "Tulsi Gabbard's Moment of Truth". Expression Magazine.
31. "Hawaii Congressional District 2 Debate on June 5, 2012".
32. Levine, Michael. (June 18, 2012). "Civil Beat Poll - Stunning Turnaround In Hawaii's CD2 Race".
33. Tsuji, Erika. (October 25, 2011). "Leading nonpartisan PAC for women endorses Tulsi Gabbard for Congress".
34. "Tulsi Gabbard".
35. Pignataro, Anthony. (August 9, 2012). "MauiTime's 2012 Hawaii Primary Election Endorsements".
36. Pang, Gordon Y.K.. (August 11, 2012). "Gabbard Upsets Hanneman". Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
37. (August 13, 2012). "Tulsi Gabbard Post Primary Election".
38. Sakahara, Tim. (August 16, 2012). "Tulsi Gabbard resigns, open seat generates interest".
39. Sakahara, Tim. (August 23, 2012). "Handyman hopes to go from homeless to Congress". [[Hawaii News Now]].
40. Gracia, Daniel. (July 10, 2012). "Hawaii's Matt DiGeronimo: Congressional candidate and a real American hero". [[The Washington Times]].
41. (August 16, 2011). "(Un)ambition". [[Honolulu Star-Advertiser]].
42. "RED TO BLUE 2012". DCCC.
43. "Help Our Candidates Win!".
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45. (2012-09-11). "Our Candidates {{!}} VoteVets.org".