Hawaii Election Analysis: Where They Won
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ domination in top-of-the-ticket races Tuesday was nearly universally widespread.
Republican Senate candidate Linda Lingle, a two-term governor, carried just one of Hawaii’s 51 state House districts, while GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney failed to do even that, a Civil Beat analysis of general election results shows.
Charles Djou had marginally more success, taking six of 29 districts in his 1st Congressional District defeat. Ben Cayetano, who was a lifelong Democrat running in a nonpartisan race but was supported by many conservatives, carried 11 of Oahu’s 35 House districts.
The losing candidates’ strongholds in many cases overlapped — for example, in District 18 in East Honolulu and District 47 on Oahu’s North Shore.
Here’s a closer look at the geographic breakdown for the four biggest races decided Tuesday:
President
President Barack Obama carried each and every one of Hawaii’s 51 state House districts, but his margin fluctuated considerably.
Obama’s strongest areas, where he took more than 80 percent of the vote, included District 9 (Kahului) and District 2 (Hilo). In fact, the president’s top six districts were all in either Hawaii or Maui counties.
Romney’s strongest area — the only place his share of the vote even reached 40 percent — was District 47. That includes the Mormon enclave of Laie. Precinct 47-03, Kahuku High School, saw Romney more than double Obama’s vote total, 1,103 to 482. Romney also topped Obama at neighboring Precinct 47-04, Hauula Elementary School.
Romney surpassed 35 percent in only two other House districts — Nos. 42 and 40 in Leeward Oahu.
U.S. Senate
Mazie Hirono‘s two strongest districts — each with 76 percent support — were identical to Obama’s.
Her 11 strongest districts overall were all on neighbor islands. She’s represented the 2nd Congressional District the last six years in Congress, and that district includes rural Oahu and all of the neighbor islands, so voters there are particularly familiar with her.
Lingle, meanwhile, overlapped with Romney. Her lone win came in District 47, and her next-strongest area was No. 42, followed by Districts 17 and 18 in East Honolulu.
In addition to the sole victory, Lingle surpassed 45 percent vote share in six other House districts.
1st Congressional District
Colleen Hanabusa‘s congressional district does not include the neighbor islands that broke so hard for Obama and Hirono. So she forged her own way with strong margins — exceeding a 60-40 split — in places like Districts 21, 23 and 20 in and near Downtown Honolulu.
Djou’s strongest areas were the same as those that attempted to support Romney and Lingle. He carried Districts 42, 36, 43, 40, 18 and 17 — mostly East Honolulu and Leeward Oahu.
In all, the two candidates were within 10 points of each other in 15 of the 29 House districts, and within five percent in 10 districts.
Honolulu Mayor
Kirk Caldwell, interestingly, pulled his largest margin of victory in District 42 with 65 percent of the vote. He topped 60 percent in five other districts, including Nos. 36, 33, 37, 34 and 39 in Central Oahu, all in areas set to be served by the rail project.
Cayetano, meanwhile, drew his support from the areas furthest from the rail line — Windward Oahu. Among the 11 districts he carried were Nos. 47, 48, 50 and 51.
District 48 — at the northern end of Kaneohe Bay — was among the tightest in any of the four main races. Cayetano carried it 5,634 to 5,630, a difference of four votes.
