The 2010 United States Senate election in Hawaii took place on November 2, 2010 concurrently with 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 pow ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various state and local elections. The primary elections were held on September 18, 2010. Incumbent Senator Daniel Inouye, also the

President pro tempore A president pro tempore or speaker pro tempore is a constitutionally recognized officer of a legislative body who presides over the chamber in the absence of the normal presiding officer. The phrase ''pro tempore'' is Latin "for the time being". ...

, secured the Democratic nomination with over 88 percent of the vote over his sole challenger, businessman Andy Woerner, while former state legislator (and Inouye's 2004 opponent)

Campbell Cavasso Campbell "Cam" Cavasso (born October 14, 1950), is an American politician, businessman and perennial candidate. A Republican, Cavasso served three terms in the Hawaii House of Representatives from 1985 to 1991, and would later run for both chamb ...

won the Republican nomination with two-thirds of the primary vote. Focuses of the campaign included Inouye's seniority and ability to direct federal resources to the state, as well as Cavasso's emphases on change and fiscal responsibility. Polling found Inouye with a large lead, although one poll gave the Democrat a lead of only thirteen points, greatly underestimating his share of the vote. Inouye won re-election to his ninth and final term, with nearly 75 percent of the vote to Cavasso's 21.6 percent. The Senator would not serve out his ninth term, as he died in December 2012 and was replaced by appointed then-Lieutenant governor

Brian Schatz Brian Emanuel Schatz (; born October 20, 1972) is an American educator and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Hawaii, a seat he has held since 2012. A member of the Democratic Party, Schatz served in the Hawaii House o ...

Background

Hawaii last elected a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Senator in 1970, and its current delegation to the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

currently consists entirely of Democrats. Democrats have also won Hawaii's electoral votes in every

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...

since Ronald Reagan's landslide election in 1984. The exceptions at the time were then-

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 ...

Linda Lingle Linda Lingle (''née'' Cutter; June 4, 1953) is an American politician, who was the sixth governor of Hawaii from 2002 until 2010. She was the first Republican governor of Hawaii since 1962. Lingle was also the state's first female and first Je ...

(who was serving her second and final term) and then-

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

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 ...

, both of whom are Republicans.

Democratic primary

Candidates

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 f ...

, incumbent U.S. Senator * Andy Woerner, businessman

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

, former State Representative, candidate for Lieutenant Governor in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, and nominee for

U.S. 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 powe ...

in 2004 * Eddie Pirkowski, businessman and U.S. Senate candidate in the 2006 primary * John Roco

Results

General election

Candidates

* Democratic:

* Republican:

* Green: Jim Brewer * Libertarian: Lloyd Mallan * Independent: Jeff Jarrett

Predictions

Campaign

The death of longtime U.S. Senator

Robert C. Byrd Robert Carlyle Byrd (born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr.; November 20, 1917 – June 28, 2010) was an American politician and musician who served as a United States senator from West Virginia for over 51 years, from 1959 until his death in 2010. A ...

allowed Inouye to become the

and Chairman of the

United States Senate Committee on Appropriations The United States Senate Committee on Appropriations is a standing committee of the United States Senate. It has jurisdiction over all discretionary spending legislation in the Senate. The Senate Appropriations Committee is the largest committe ...

. He made no apologies for bringing home as much federal money as he can, despite Republican insistence that the U.S. government taxes and spends too much, a stance he calls a "nice gimmick." The

Maui News ''The Maui News'' is a Wailuku, Hawaii Wailuku is a census-designated place (CDP) in and county seat of Maui County, Hawaii, United States. The population was 17,697 at the 2020 census. Wailuku is located just west of Kahului, at the mouth ...

endorsed his re-election. Cavasso, the 2004 nominee, won the Republican primary again, and ran on a platform of change and is emphasizing the need for a balanced budget. Inouye, who defeated Cavasso in 2004 by 52 percentage points, released TV ads that refer to himself simply as "Dan". The senator is said to be "working" for Hawaii's transportation, high-tech economy, education and other needs.Cavasso undeterred by odds in campaign against Inouye - Hawaii News - Staradvertiser.com
/ref>

Polling

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

poll of 500 likely voters conducted on October 13 gave Inouye only a thirteen-point lead over Cavasso, and found the Republican with a modest lead among independent voters. However, the poll would ultimately miss the final margin by forty percentage points. ''

Fivethirtyeight ''FiveThirtyEight'', sometimes rendered as ''538'', is an American website that focuses on opinion poll analysis, politics, economics, and sports blogging in the United States. The website, which takes its name from the number of electors in th ...

''s

Nate Silver Nathaniel Read Silver (born January 13, 1978) is an American statistician, writer, and poker player who analyzes baseball (see sabermetrics), basketball, and elections (see psephology). He is the founder and editor-in-chief of ''FiveThirtyEight' ...

awarded the Rasmussen poll his "worst poll award", citing it as evidence of the pollster's bias against Democratic candidates and observing that it was, as of November 2010, the largest error of any electoral poll in the ''Fivethirtyeight'' databases going back to 1998.

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

Hawaii Office of Elections

U.S. Congress candidates for Hawaii
at

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 ...

Hawaii U.S. Senate
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions
from

Open Secrets ''Open Secrets'' () is a book of short stories by Alice Munro published by McClelland and Stewart in 1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente buil ...

2010 Hawaii Senate General Election: All Head-to-Head Matchups
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Hawaii Senate
from

Hawaii Senate
from

Real Clear Politics RealClearPolitics (RCP) is an American political news website and polling data aggregator formed in 2000 by former options trader John McIntyre and former advertising agency account executive Tom Bevan. The site features selected political ...

2010 Hawaii Senate Race
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Race profile
from

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

;Official campaign websites
Campbell Cavasso for U.S. Senate

Daniel Inouye U.S. Senator

Jeff Jarrett for Hawaii, US Senate

Lloyd Mallan for U.S. Senate

Eddie Pirkowski for U.S. Senate

John Roco for U.S. Senator

Andy Woerner for U.S. Senate
{{2010 United States elections

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 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Daniel Inouye