The Hawaii Senate is the
upper house
An upper house is one of two Debate chamber, chambers of a bicameralism, bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smalle ...
of the
Hawaii State Legislature
The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, the ...
. It consists of twenty-five members elected from an equal number of constituent districts across the islands and is led by the President of the Senate, elected from the membership of the body, currently
Ron Kouchi
Ron Kouchi is a Democratic politician and current 14th President of the Hawaiʻi Senate (replacing Donna Mercado Kim who lost her position in an unusual mid-year leadership reorganization).
Personal life
Ron Kouchi is married to Joy Naomi Tani ...
. The forerunner of the Hawaii Senate during the government of the
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...
was the
House of Nobles originated in 1840. In 1894, the Constitution of the
Republic of Hawaii
The Republic of Hawaii ( Hawaiian: ''Lepupalika o Hawaii'') was a short-lived one-party state in Hawaii between July 4, 1894, when the Provisional Government of Hawaii had ended, and August 12, 1898, when it became annexed by the United State ...
renamed the upper house the present senate. Senators are elected to four-year terms and are not subject to
term limits
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...
.
Like most state legislatures in the United States, the Hawaii State Senate is a part-time body and senators often have active careers outside government. The lower house of the legislature is the
Hawaii House of Representatives
The Hawaii House of Representatives is the lower house of the Hawaii State Legislature. Pursuant to Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of Hawaii, amended during the 1978 constitutional convention, the House of Representatives consis ...
. The membership of the Senate also elects additional officers to include the Senate Vice President, Senate Chief Clerk, Assistant Chief Clerk, Senate Sergeant at Arms, and Assistant Sergeant at Arms. The Hawaii Senate convenes in the
Hawaii State Capitol
The Hawaii State Capitol is the official statehouse or capitol building of the U.S. state of Hawaii. From its chambers, the executive and legislative branches perform the duties involved in governing the state. The Hawaii State Legislature—com ...
in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...
.
Composition
The Democrats have controlled the chamber since 1963, and have held a supermajority since 1984.
From 2016 (when Sen.
Sam Slom
Samuel Morgan Slom (born April 13, 1942) is an American politician and a former member of the Hawaii Senate, where he represented the 9th District (which included Hawaii Kai, Aina Haina, Kahala and Diamond Head on the island of Oahu) from 1996 t ...
, Hawaii's sole Republican state Senator, was defeated in his bid for reelection) to 2018, the Democratic Party held all 25 seats in the Hawaii Senate. This made the Hawaii Senate the only state legislative chamber with no opposition members (this excludes the officially nonpartisan
Nebraska Legislature
The Nebraska Legislature (also called the Unicameral) is the legislature of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The Legislature meets at the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. With 49 members, known as "senators", the Nebraska Legislature is the small ...
). It was the first time since 1980 (when both the
Alabama Senate
The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district conta ...
and
Louisiana Senate
The Louisiana State Senate (french: Sénat de Louisiane) is the upper house of the Louisiana State Legislature, state legislature of Louisiana. All senators serve four-year terms and are assigned to multiple committees.
Composition
The Louis ...
were all-Democratic) that any state legislative chamber had been completely dominated by a single party.
[Cathy Bussewitz]
If Democrat wins seat, Hawaii could be first state in U.S. with one-party rule
Associated Press (October 23, 2016).
Leadership
Officers
List of current members
Capitol
The Hawaiʻi State Senate has been meeting at the
Hawaiʻi State Capitol in
downtown Honolulu
Downtown Honolulu is the current historic, economic, and governmental center of Honolulu, the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is bounded by Nuuanu Stream to the west, Ward Avenue to the east, Vineyard Boulevard to the nor ...
since March 15, 1969. Previous to the decision of
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
John A. Burns
John Anthony Burns (March 30, 1909 – April 5, 1975) was an American politician. Burns was born in Montana and became a resident of Hawaii in 1913. He served as the second governor of Hawaii from 1962 to 1974.
Early life
John Burns was ...
to build the new Capitol building, the Hawaiʻi State Senate met in
ʻIolani Palace
The Iolani Palace ( haw, Hale Aliʻi ʻIolani) was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty (1845) and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani (1893) under the Kalākaua Dyna ...
.
Past composition of the Senate
References
External links
Hawaiʻi State LegislatureHawaiʻi State House of RepresentativesHawaiʻi State SenateHawaiʻi State Legislature Legislative Reference BureauState Senate of Hawaiʻiat
Project Vote Smart
Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...
*
{{Authority control
Hawaii Legislature
State upper houses in the United States