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Hawaii State Senate elections, 2026

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2026 Hawaii Senate Election
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Election info

Seats up: 13
Primary: August 8, 2026
General: November 3, 2026

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Elections for the Hawaii State Senate will take place in 2026. The general election is on November 3, 2026.

The Hawaii State Senate is one of 88 state legislative chambers with elections in 2026. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state senates and State government trifectas
Party As of September 2025
     Democratic Party 22
     Republican Party 3
     Other 0
     Vacancies 0
Total 25

Candidates

Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:

  • Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
  • Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies

Primary

Hawaii State Senate primary 2026
  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 2
District 5
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 17
District 20
District 21
District 25

General election

Hawaii State Senate general election 2026
  • Incumbents are marked with an (i) after their name.
  • Please contact Ballotpedia about candidate additions, withdrawals, or disqualifications.
Office Democratic Party Democratic Republican Party Republican Other
District 2
District 5
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 17
District 20
District 21
District 25

Voting information

See also: Voting in Hawaii

Ballotpedia will publish the dates and deadlines related to this election as they are made available.


Competitiveness

This section will be updated with information about the competitiveness of state legislative elections in Hawaii. For more information about Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Hawaii

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: Chapter 12, Part I of the Hawaii Revised Statutes

In Hawaii, all candidates, regardless of partisan affiliation, must be nominated via the state's primary election before appearing on a general election ballot. In the primary election, a candidate may run as a nonpartisan or as a member of a political party. Nonpartisan candidates appear on a separate, nonpartisan ballot.[1][2][3]

Nomination papers

To be placed on the ballot, a candidate must first file an application for nomination papers with the Hawaii Office of Elections. Nomination papers are available on the first business day in February in every even-numbered year.[4][5]

Nomination papers must be signed by voters qualified to vote for the office being sought by the candidate. The number of signatures required is as follows:[4][6]

A signer may sign for only one candidate per office, unless there is more than one seat available for that office. When signing the nomination paper, the signer must provide the following information:[4][7]

  • name
  • residential address
  • date of birth
  • the last four digits of Social Security number
  • a statement verifying that the signer is qualified to vote for the candidate and that the signer nominates the candidate for the office specified

The following must also be included on the nomination paper:[7]

  • the residential address and county in which the candidate resides
  • a sworn certification, by self-subscribing oath, by the candidate affirming that he or she is qualified for the office being sought and that all the information provided by the candidate on the nomination paper is correct
  • a sworn certification, by self-subscribing oath, by a party candidate that the candidate is a member of the party whose affiliation is indicated on the nomination paper (this is only required of political party candidates)

Filing nomination papers

Except for special primaries or special general elections, the deadline to file nomination papers is the first Tuesday in June. Candidates are advised to file papers early and to collect more than the minimum number of signatures. Exceptions or extensions on filing are prohibited, and once a nomination paper has been filed, a candidate cannot add more signatures.[8][4]

A candidate who holds a public office other than that being sought must resign from his or her current office before filing to be a candidate for a new office. When filing nomination papers, the candidate must certify, by self-subscribing oath, that he or she has resigned from his or her former office.[4]

At the time of filing, the candidate must designate what name he or she wishes to appear on the ballot. A candidate is allowed a maximum of 27 typed spaces on the ballot for names, which includes all letters, spaces, and punctuation marks. Titles are not permitted as part of a candidate's name.[4]

Upon filing, the candidate must sign before a notary public a written oath of affirmation. In order to sign the oath, the candidate must provide a photo ID to the notary public.[4][9]

Any challenges or objections to a candidate's nomination paper must be raised before the 60th day prior to the primary election. Challenges and objections may be raised by registered voters, political party officers who were named on the nomination paper, or by the state's chief elections officer.[4][10]

Filing fees

Filing fees are due at time of filing and must be paid by cash, money order, or certified cashier’s check. Personal or campaign checks will not be accepted. Filing fees may be discounted if the candidate agrees to abide by the state’s voluntary campaign spending limits. Filing fees vary according to the office being sought and are detailed in the table below.[4][8][11]

Filing fees
Office sought Filing fee Discounted filing fee
United States senator or United States representative $75 Not applicable
Governor or lieutenant governor $750 $75
Mayor $500 $50
All other offices $250 $25

If a candidate cannot afford to pay the filing fee, he or she can instead file an affidavit attesting to that fact and submit a petition in lieu of the filing fee. The petition must be signed by one-half of 1 percent of the total number of registered voters as of the most recent general election in the district in which the candidate is seeking election.[4][8]

Qualifying for the general election ballot

The party candidate who receives the most votes at the primary election advances to the general election.[12]

A nonpartisan candidate can move on to the general election ballot in one of the following ways:[3]

  • by receiving at least 10 percent of the votes cast for the office
  • by receiving a number of votes equal to the lowest number of votes received by a partisan candidate who was nominated in the primary election for the office

If more nonpartisan candidates gain access to the general election ballot than there are offices up for election, only the nonpartisan candidate who received the highest vote for the office will move on to the general election.[3][12]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

From Article III, Section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution: No person shall be eligible to serve as a member of the senate unless the person has been a resident of the State for not less than three years, has attained the age of majority and is, prior to filing nomination papers and thereafter continues to be, a qualified voter of the senatorial district from which the person seeks to be elected; except that in the year of the first general election following reapportionment, but prior to the primary election, an incumbent senator may move to a new district without being disqualified from completing the remainder of the incumbent senator's term.

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[13]
SalaryPer diem
$74,160/year$225/day; only for legislators who do not reside on Oahu.

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

Hawaii legislators assume office on the day they are elected in the general election.[14]

Hawaii political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

Hawaii Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty-six years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor D D D D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
House D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Presidential politics in Hawaii

2024

See also: Presidential election, 2024


Presidential election in Hawaii, 2024
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Kamala D. Harris/Tim Walz (D)
 
60.6
 
313,044 4
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R)
 
37.5
 
193,661 0
Image of
Image of
Jill Stein/Butch Ware (G)
 
0.8
 
4,387 0
Image of
Image of
Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat (L)
 
0.5
 
2,733 0
Image of
Image of
Claudia De La Cruz/Karina Garcia (Party for Socialism and Liberation)
 
0.4
 
1,940 0
Image of
Image of
Peter Sonski/Lauren Onak (American Solidarity Party)
 
0.2
 
936 0

There were no incumbents in this race The results have been certified.

Total votes: 516,701


2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020


Presidential election in Hawaii, 2020
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)
 
63.7
 
366,130 4
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R)
 
34.3
 
196,864 0
Image of
Image of
Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L)
 
1.0
 
5,539 0
Image of
Image of
Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G)
 
0.7
 
3,822 0
Image of
Image of
Brock Pierce/Karla Ballard (American Shopping Party)
 
0.2
 
1,183 0
Image of
Image of
Don Blankenship/William Mohr (Constitution Party)
 
0.2
 
931 0

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 574,469


2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016
U.S. presidential election, Hawaii, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngHillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 62.2% 266,891 4
     Republican Donald Trump/Mike Pence 30% 128,847 0
     Libertarian Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 3.7% 15,954 0
     Green Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka 3% 12,737 0
     Constitution Darrell Lane Castle/Scott Bradley 1.1% 4,508 0
Total Votes 428,937 4
Election results via: Hawaii Office of Elections


Hawaii presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 15 Democratic wins
  • 2 Republican wins
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A D D D R D D R D D D D D D D D D D


Redistricting following the 2020 census

The Hawaii Reapportionment Commission approved new legislative district maps on January 28, 2022.[15] The commission's Technical Committee Permitted Interaction Group initially presented the state legislative map plans to the commission for consideration on October 14, 2021. The map plans were approved for public comment on October 28.[16] On January 6, the commission approved a motion to modify the legislative map plans after learning the initial plans had not properly accounted for the number of nonpermanent resident personnel on military installations in the state, who are not included in legislative redistricting. Under the modified proposal, one legislative district would be moved from Oahu to Hawaii.[17][18] This map took effect for Hawaii's 2022 state legislative elections.


See also

Hawaii State Legislative Elections News and Analysis
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Hawaii State Executive Offices
Hawaii State Legislature
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State legislative elections:
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Hawaii elections:
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Primary elections in Hawaii
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
Partisan composition of state legislatures
Partisan composition of state senates
Partisan composition of state houses

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 2," accessed February 20, 2025
  2. ↑ Hawaii Office of Elections, "Candidate's Manual (2024 elections)," accessed February 20, 2025
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Hawaii Office of Elections, "Nonpartisan Candidates in Partisan Contests," accessed February 20, 2025
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named hicandidatefactsheet
  5. ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 2.5," accessed February 20, 2025
  6. ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 5," accessed February 20, 2025
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 3," accessed February 20, 2025
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 6," accessed February 20, 2025
  9. ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 7," accessed February 20, 2025
  10. ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part I, Section 8," accessed February 20, 2025
  11. ↑ State of Hawaii Office of Elections, "Filing Fees for Candidacy," accessed February 20, 2025
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 12, Part IV, Section 41," accessed February 20, 2025
  13. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  14. ↑ Legislative Reference Bureau, "Hawaii Constitution, Article III, Section 4," accessed November 1, 2021
  15. ↑ State of Hawaii, "Regular Meeting of the Reapportionment Commission - January 28, 2022," accessed February 4, 2022
  16. ↑ Patch.com, "The Plan To Redraw Hawaii's Political Lines Goes Out For Public Comment," Oct. 29, 2021
  17. ↑ Honolulu Civil Beat, "The Big Island Is Set To Gain A House Seat As Reapportionment Restarts," Jan. 6, 2021
  18. ↑ Office of Elections, "Reapportionment Commission," accessed Oct. 20, 2021


Current members of the Hawaii State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Ronald Kouchi
Majority Leader:Dru Kanuha
Minority Leader:Brenton Awa
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
Les Ihara (D)
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
Donna Kim (D)
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
Chris Lee (D)
Democratic Party (22)
Republican Party (3)


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