Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the U.S. state of

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 ...

. It is currently represented by

Kai Kahele Kaialiʻi Kahele (born March 28, 1974) is an American politician, educator, and commercial pilot serving as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district. From 2016 to 2020, he served in the Hawaii Senate from the 1st district ...

, who succeeded

Tulsi Gabbard Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician, United States Army Reserve officer and political commentator who served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district from 2013 to 2021. Gabbard was the fi ...

following the 2020 election. The district encompasses all rural and most suburban areas of

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O ...

/ Honolulu County, as well as the entire state outside of Oahu. Besides Honolulu, the district includes the counties of

Kauai Kauai, () anglicized as Kauai ( ), is geologically the second-oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands (after Niʻihau). With an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), it is the fourth-largest of these islands and the 21st largest islan ...

Maui The island of Maui (; Hawaiian: ) is the second-largest of the islands of the state of Hawaii at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2) and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is the largest of Maui County's four islands, whic ...

Kalawao Kalawao () is a location on the eastern side of the Kalaupapa Peninsula of the island of Molokai, in Hawaii, which was the site of Hawaii's leper colony between 1866 and the early 20th century. Thousands of people in total came to the island to ...

, and

("the Big Island"). The district spans 331 miles. The most populous community entirely within the district is

Hilo Hilo () is a census-designated place (CDP) and the largest settlement in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaii. The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. It is the fourth-largest settlement ...

. Major segments of the economy include

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most ofte ...

ing, and

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

. Under the U.S. Constitution, a candidate for this district has to be a resident of Hawaii, but does not have to live in the district itself. The first non-resident to be elected to this U.S. House seat was Ed Case, a

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 isla ...

attorney, though Case was born and raised on the

Big Island of Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii ) is the largest island in the United States, located in the state of Hawaii. It is the southeasternmost of the Hawaiian Islands, a chain of volcanic islands in the North Pacific Ocean. With an area of , it has 63% of t ...

. The home state office of the Second Congressional District is at the

Prince Kuhio Federal Building The Prince Kūhiō Federal Building, formally the Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaole Federal Building and United States Courthouse, is the official seat of the United States federal government and its local branches of various agencies and departm ...

near

Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu , is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, ...

History

When Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the Union in 1959, both new states were granted one

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...

Representative to Congress pending the next United States Census. In the reapportionment following the 1960 U.S. Census, Hawaii was entitled to a second U.S. Representative. Instead of creating two congressional districts, the state continued to elect its U.S. Representatives at-large. Two representatives were first elected in 1962 and Hawaii was first represented by two U.S. Representatives on January 2, 1963, upon the convening of the

88th Congress The 88th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 196 ...

. The 2nd Congressional District was created in 1971 when Hawaii began electing its representatives from districts instead of electing an at-large U.S. Representative statewide. The 2nd Congressional District has a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

of D+19. The district has supported the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1988, and has never elected a Republican House representative. In October 2019, representative

announced that she would not seek re-election, instead choosing to focus on her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination. In January 2019, Hawaii state senator

announced he would run for the seat in 2020. Other Democrats that announced are David Cornejo, Brian Evans (a self-described " Berniecrat" who ran for the seat as a Republican in 2018), Noelle Famera, and Ryan Meza. Republicans Joseph Akana and Jonathan Hoomanawanui also announced. Kahele won the Democratic nomination on August 8, 2020, and the subsequent general election on November 3, 2020.

List of members representing the district

Election results

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990 (Special)

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2002 (Special)

2003 (Special)

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

Historical district boundaries

References

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Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{coord, 19, 48, 35, N, 155, 30, 22, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 2 Tulsi Gabbard