The 2012 United States Senate election in Hawaii took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

and

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

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic senator

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

decided to retire instead of seeking a fourth full term.

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko Hirono (; Japanese name: , ; born November 3, 1947) is an American lawyer and politician serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii. A member of the ...

defeated Republican

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (; June 4, 1953) is an American politician who served as the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 to 2010. She was the first Republican elected governor of Hawaii since 1959, and was the state's first female and first Jewish govern ...

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

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. This was 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 Lin ...

, which Linda Lingle won 51.56% - 47.01%.

Background

U.S. Representative

was appointed by Governor

John Waihee John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Ep ...

to the U.S. Senate to serve temporarily after the death of U.S. Senator

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

, 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 Edward Espenett Case (born September 27, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 2019, which covers the urban core o ...

, her predecessor in Congress, incumbent Congresswoman

pulled away in the final vote, handily defeating Case.

Candidates

, former U.S. representative * Michael Gillespie * Antonio Gimbernat *

, U.S. representative and 2002 nominee for governor * 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 (United States), lieutenant colonel serving since 2017 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States ...

, Assistant Secretary of Public/Intergovernmental Affairs (ran for Congress in Illinois) *

Colleen Hanabusa Colleen Wakako Hanabusa (, born May 4, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for her party's nomination for ...

, U.S. Representative *

Mufi Hannemann Muliufi Francis Hannemann (born July 16, 1954) is an American politician, businessman, and non-profit executive. He was elected twice as Mayor of Honolulu in 2004 and 2008. Hannemann has served as a special assistant in Washington, D.C., with t ...

, 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 fo ...

(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. Its purpose is to elect Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current Chair is Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of Ne ...

chairwoman and U.S. Senator

Patty Murray Patricia Lynn Murray (, October 11, 1950) is an American politician serving in her sixth term as a United States senator from Washington (state), Washington, beginning her tenure in 1993, and is the state's Seniority in the United States Senate, ...

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 attorney, soldier, and statesman who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Hawaii from 1963 until his death in 2012. A Medal of Honor recipi ...

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 (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

blog described Ed Case as 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 are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

* Charles Collins *

, 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 eleventh lieutenant governor of Hawaii under Linda Lingle from 2002 to 2010. A member of the Republican Party, he also served both as an attorn ...

, former lieutenant governor *

Charles Djou Charles Kong Djou (born August 9, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who is currently secretary and chief executive of the American Battle Monuments Commission. A former member of the Republican Party, Djou briefly served as U.S. repre ...

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

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

* Heath Beasley (independent) * Mazie Hirono (Democratic), U.S. representative * Linda Lingle (Republican), former governor

Debates

* September 6, 2012 –

Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce The Honolulu Japanese Chamber of Commerce is a business organization that promotes economic growth in Hawaii and Japan. History After the Chinatown fire of 1900, 37 Japanese businessmen formed the Emergency Japanese Association to help Japa ...

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 television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

* 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

By congressional district

Hirono won both congressional districts.

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 and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector and ...

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 On the Issues or OnTheIssues is an American non-partisan, non-profit organization providing information to American voters on American candidates, primarily via their website. The organization was started in 1996, went non-profit in 2000, and is ...

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 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

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

By congressional district

See also

References

External links