The 2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the

2012 U.S. presidential election The 2012 United States presidential election was the 57th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012. Incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and his running mate, incumbent Vice President Joe Biden, were re-el ...

, as well as other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

and

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator

Daniel Akaka Daniel Kahikina Akaka (; September 11, 1924 – April 6, 2018) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), De ...

decided to retire, instead of running for re-election to a fourth full term. Democratic Congresswoman Mazie Hirono defeated former Republican Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle, in a rematch of the

2002 Hawaii gubernatorial election The 2002 Hawaii gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2002, to select the Governor of Hawaii. Incumbent Democratic Governor of Hawaii Ben Cayetano was term-limited and therefore could not run for re-election. Former Maui Mayor Linda ...

. This was the first open Senate seat in the state of Hawaii since 1976.

Background

U.S. Representative

was appointed by Governor John Waihee to the U.S. Senate to serve temporarily after the death of U.S. Senator

Spark Matsunaga Spark Masayuki Matsunaga ( ja, 松永正幸, October 8, 1916April 15, 1990) was an American politician and attorney who served as United States Senator for Hawaii from 1977 until his death in 1990. Matsunaga also represented Hawaii in the U.S. ...

, and sworn into office on May 16, 1990. On November 6 of the same year, he was elected to complete the remaining four years of Matsunaga's unexpired term. He was re-elected in 1994 for a first full six-year term and again in 2000 and 2006. Despite originally saying he would seek re-election in 2012, on March 2, 2011, Akaka announced that he would not run for re-election.

Democratic primary

The primary election was held on August 11. After being locked in a tight race with Ed Case, her predecessor in Congress, incumbent Congresswoman

Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Hawaii since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Hirono previously served as a member of th ...

pulled away in the final vote, handily defeating Case.

Candidates

* Ed Case, former U.S. Representative * Michael Gillespie * Antonio Gimbernat *

, U.S. Representative * Arturo Reyes

Withdrew

, incumbent U.S. Senator

Declined

Tammy Duckworth Ladda Tammy Duckworth (born March 12, 1968) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard lieutenant colonel serving as the junior United States senator from Illinois since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented ...

, Assistant Secretary of Public/Intergovernmental Affairs (ran for Congress in Illinois) * Colleen Hanabusa, U.S. Representative * Mufi Hannemann, former

Mayor of Honolulu The mayor of Honolulu is the chief executive officer of the City and County of Honolulu. An office established in 1900 and modified in 1907, the mayor of Honolulu is elected by universal suffrage of residents of Honolulu to no more than two four ...

(ran for Congress)

Campaign

In December 2011,

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. It is the only organization solely dedicated to electing Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current Chair is Se ...

Chairwoman and U.S. Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...

for Washington endorsed Hirono. U.S. Senator and President Pro Tempore

Daniel Inouye Daniel Ken Inouye ( ; September 7, 1924 – December 17, 2012) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. Beginning in 1959, he was the first U.S. representative ...

for Hawaii also endorsed her. Case criticized "D.C. insiders." He also argued that he is a fiscal moderate, while Hirono was rated the 6th most liberal member of the U.S. House. The

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site includes glossaries and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of " netroots" activism. Daily Kos was ...

blog described Ed Case a "Democratic villain."

Polling

Results

Republican primary

The primary election was held on August 11.

Candidates

* John Carroll, former State Senator, former State Representative and

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates' existence lies in the fact that in some countries, there are no laws that limit a number of times a person can ...

* Charles Collins * Linda Lingle, former Governor * Eddie Pirkowski, businessman and perennial candidate * John Roco

Declined

Duke Aiona James R. "Duke" Aiona Jr. (born June 8, 1955) is an American politician and jurist who served as the tenth lieutenant governor of Hawaii under Linda Lingle from 2002 to 2010. A Republican, he also served both as an attorney and a judge for the st ...

, former lieutenant governor *

Charles Djou Charles Kong Djou (born August 9, 1970) is an American politician who served as U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district from 2010 to 2011. Appointed by President Joe Biden, Djou currently serves as the Secretary of the Americ ...

, former U.S. representative (running for U.S. House)

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* Mazie Hirono (Democratic), U.S. Representative * Linda Lingle (Republican), former Governor * Heath Beasley (Independent)

Debates

* September 6, 2012 – Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce and various other hosts * October 8, 2012 – AARP Hawaii * October 16, 2012 – Honolulu Civil Beat
Complete video of debate
at

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

* October 18, 2012 – PBS Hawaii * October 22, 2012 – Hawaii Star Advertiser

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

;Democratic primary ;with Duke Aiona ;with Colleen Hanabusa ;with Charles Djou ;With Mufi Hannemann ;with Brian Schatz

Endorsements

Results

References

External links

Hawaii Office of the Elections

Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...

Outside spending
at the

Sunlight Foundation The Sunlight Foundation was an American 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocated for open government. The organization was founded in April 2006 with the goal of increasing transparency and accountability in the United States ...

Candidate issue positions
at On the Issues ;Campaign sites (Archived)
John Carroll for U.S. Senate

Ed Case for U.S. Senate

Mazie Hirono for U.S. Senate

Linda Lingle for U.S. Senate

Eddie Pirkowski for U.S. Senate
{{2012 United States elections

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Background

Democratic primary

Candidates

Withdrew

Declined

Campaign

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declined

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Debates

Fundraising

Top contributors

Top industries

Predictions

Polling

Endorsements

Results

See also

References

External links