Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Hawaii

Who Runs the States

Main Report Pages

Main Page • Part 1 • Partisanship Infographic • Part 2 • Part 3

Partisanship Results Report (Part 1)

Executive Summary • State Partisanship Analysis • Partisan Control of Governorships • Partisan Control of State Legislatures • Partisan Control of State Senates • Partisan Control of State Houses • State Government Trifectas • Overall Partisan Control: Bright, Medium and Soft States • Changes of Partisan Domination over 22 years • Year-to-Year Changes in State Partisan Control • Trifectas and Presidential Election Patterns • Conclusion • Methodology • Appendix A • Appendix B

State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Report (Part 2)

Executive Summary • State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) • About the Index • Overall Rankings • Dramatic Changes from 1st Half to 2nd Half • Individual Indicators • Methodology • Appendices

Partisanship and (SQLI) Overlay Report (Part 3)

Introduction • Comparing Partisanship and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI) Rankings • Description of the data • Trends and correlations • Methodology • Key Values for Fifty-State Regressions • Appendices

Praise or blame is extended to political parties for the economic, educational, health and other quality of life outcomes that result from the policies those parties enact into law. To better understand which political party enjoys power in each of the states, Ballotpedia has analyzed state government control from 1992-2013 using the concept of a "partisan trifecta." A partisan trifecta is defined as when a state's governorship and legislative chambers are controlled by the same political party.

The two major political parties claim that their policies will lead to better outcomes. What does the data show?

At Ballotpedia, we explored these issues in a three-part study, Who Runs the States.

This page takes a specific look at how Hawaii performed in the study.

Background about the study

See also: Ballotpedia: Who Runs the States

Part One examines the partisanship of state government from 1992 to 2013. Part Two establishes a State Quality of Life Index (SQLI), aggregating a variety of existing state indices into one measurement. Part Three will overlay the two reports, looking for trends and correlations.

Part 1: Partisanship analysis

Hawaii Governor

From 1992 to 2013, there were Democratic governors in office for 14 years while there were Republican governors in office for eight years. During the final three years of the study, Hawaii was under Democratic trifectas.

Across the country, there were 493 years of Democratic governors (44.82%) and 586 years of Republican governors (53.27%) from 1992-2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.

Hawaii Senate

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Hawaii State Senate. The Hawaii State Senate is one of 16 state senates that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

Across the country, there were 544 Democratic and 517 Republican State Senates from 1992 to 2013.

Hawaii House of Representatives

From 1992 to 2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Hawaii House of Representatives. The Hawaii House of Representatives is one of 18 state Houses that was Democratic for more than 80 percent of the years between 1992 and 2013.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican state houses of representatives from 1992 to 2013.

The chart below shows the partisan composition of the Office of the Governor of Hawaii, the Hawaii State Senate and the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Partisan control changes

There were two partisan control changes in Hawaii during the study period. The average number of changes in the 50 states was four, putting Hawaii below the average.

Part 2: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)

Hawaii’s average ranking over the course of the study period was 31.14, which puts it at 33 in the overall SQLI ranking.

• The year that Hawaii had the highest ranking was 1993, in which it ranked 11th.
• The years that Hawaii had the lowest ranking were 1999 and 2001, in which it ranked 39th.
• The index types that Hawaii had the highest ranking in were Unemployment Rate and Wellbeing Index, in which it ranked 1st.
• The index type that Hawaii had the lowest ranking in was CNBC Top States for Business, in which it ranked 48th.

Hawaii SQLI 1992-2012
Index	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012
24/7 Wall St Best/Worst Governed States	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	N/A	N/A	N/A	10	12	38
America's Health Rankings	2	5	3	3	2	2	2	1	2	4	6	5	5	3	4	4	1	4	5	3	2
CAFR Debt/GDP	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	41	37	37	38	42	42	45	N/A
Chief Executive Magazine Best and Worst States for Business Survey	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	47	39	39	38	41	42	43	41
CNBC Top States for Business	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	49	49	49	48	48	49
Forbes Best States for Business	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	42	37	27	39	46	49	48
Govt. Employment Share Population	46	45	45	45	45	45	45	45	46	45	45	45	45	45	45	46	46	46	43	44	44
Graduation Rate	5	23	20	28	22	19	21	38	38	41	36	40	38	35	39	36	31	29	30	28	30
Personal Income Per Capita	6	6	7	8	16	16	20	20	22	26	22	23	20	19	19	16	16	16	17	18	17
Poverty Rate	15	1	5	14	28	33	24	22	16	29	27	10	5	5	10	2	11	21	18	15	N/A
Real GDP per capita	4	4	4	6	9	10	16	17	16	18	17	17	17	16	15	16	16	17	20	21	N/A
S&P Credit Rating	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	38	36	36	36	40	41	21	24	26	26	28	29
State Govt. Spending/GDP	42	44	47	46	47	47	46	46	44	44	44	42	39	39	39	41	41	42	39	40	N/A
State & local tax burden	35	33	39	32	41	38	39	35	32	36	36	34	34	35	39	38	35	33	37	N/A	N/A
Tax Freedom Day	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	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	7
Unemployment Rate	3	5	18	33	41	44	44	42	28	18	5	3	1	1	1	2	10	13	10	10	12
Unfunded Pension Liabilities per capita	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	N/A	N/A	39	43	46	N/A
Voter Turnout	49	19	19	48	48	8	8	50	50	22	22	50	50	37	37	50	50	35	35	50	50
Well-Being Index	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	N/A	2	1	1	1	1

Part 3: Partisanship and SQLI Overlay

The chart below depicts the partisanship of the Hawaii state government and the state's SQLI ranking for the years studied. For the SQLI, the states were ranked from 1-50, with 1 being the best and 50 the worst. Hawaii has never had a Republican trifecta, but has had a Democratic trifecta between the years 1992 and 2002, and again beginning in 2011. The interruption of these two periods came in 2003 with a Republican governor. The state’s highest SQLI ranking (11th) came in 1993 under a Democratic trifecta, while Hawaii’s lowest SQLI ranking (39th) in 1999 and 2001, also under a Democratic trifecta. The state saw a precipitous decline in its ranking between 1994 and 1995, falling thirteen spots from 15th to 28th. Between 1996 and 1997, the state recovered in its SQLI ranking by nine spots before dropping to a new low (39th) in 1999.

• SQLI average with Democratic trifecta: 29.46
• SQLI average with Republican trifecta: N/A
• SQLI average with divided government: 33.88

Chart displaying the partisanship of Hawaii government from 1992-2013 and the State Quality of Life Index (SQLI).

See also

• Ballotpedia:Who runs the states
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part One: State Partisanship
  • Ballotpedia:Who Runs the States, Part Two: State Quality of Life Index (SQLI)
• Governor of Hawaii
• Hawaii State Senate
• Hawaii House of Representatives

Additional information

• ALEC Rich States, Poor States Report

External links

• Full Dataset on Google Docs