Redistricting history and process
Hawaii is the most recent state to be admitted to the union; the state was admitted on August 21, 1959, seven months after Alaska. As one of only two states to not be contiguous to the mainland, Hawaii maintains a distinct culture.
Hawaii gained a second congressional district following the 1960 Census, but unusually opted to elect both representatives at-large. They reversed this following the 1970 Census, splitting the state between two districts; Hawaii’s congressional districts have remained virtually unchanged since. The 1st district has always been based on O’ahu around the city of Honolulu, while the 2nd has contained the rest of O’ahu as well as Hawaii’s other major and minor islands. This format has seen only minor changes to account for internal population shifts.
Redistricting in Hawaii is handled by a nine-member Reapportionment Commission. Eight of the commission’s members are appointed by the majority and minority leaders of the state house and senate, respectively, with the ninth being chosen by a three-fourths vote of those eight commissioners. If an agreement can’t be reached, the Supreme Court of Hawaii selects the member instead. Hawaii’s most recent map was approved by an uncontroversial 8-1 vote.
Notably, Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district has never elected a Republican. The 1st district has remained in Democratic hands for all but a few years of its existence; Republican Pat Saiki held the seat from 1987-1991, and Republican Charles Djou represented it for seven months from 2010-2011.
Demographic breakdown
| District | White | Hispanic | Black | Asian | Native | Pacific |
| 1 | 16.1% | 6.6% | 3.1% | 68.1% | 1.9% | 17.9% |
| 2 | 31.8% | 9.5% | 2.4% | 43.4% | 3.0% | 28.0% |
| State | 23.8% | 8.1% | 2.8% | 55.9% | 2.4% | 22.9% |
Hawaii is one of seven states where a majority of the population is non-Hispanic White. In fact, with a non-Hispanic White population of only 23.4%, Hawaii has the lowest percentage of white residents in the country. It is the only state with a majority Asian population, and has far and away the largest percentage of the population identifying as Pacific Islander (22.9%) of any state. In this regard, Hawaii’s demography is more similar to American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands – three Pacific territories – than it is to any part of the mainland. The state has comparatively few Hispanic residents, and its Black population ranks among the smallest in the country.
Of the two congressional districts, the 1st district – based around the urban core of Honolulu on the island of O’ahu – has the largest Asian population of any congressional district in the country. The 2nd district, which encompasses a portion of O’ahu as well as the seven other major Hawaiian islands – is more diverse, with a larger population of white and Pacific Islander residents. Around 40% of the district’s population lives in the O’ahu portion, with the remaining 60% residing across the remaining islands.
| District | Bachelor’s or higher | Rank (of 435) | Non-college white | Rank (of 435) |
| HI-01 | 36.9% | 135 | 8.6% | 426 |
| HI-02 | 30.1% | 230 | 18.8% | 379 |
Hawaii’s educational attainment ranks as relatively average. The 1st district ranks in the 2nd quartile (above-average), while the 3rd district ranks in the 3rd quartile (slightly below-average). Non-college educated White voters do not make up a substantial share of the population in either district, with the urban 1st having among the smallest share of non-college Whites in the country.
Political history
| District | Biden | Trump | Margin | Shift |
| 1 | 63.9% | 34.5% | D+30.4% | R+2.2% |
| 2 | 63.6% | 34.1% | D+29.5% | R+2.3% |
| State | 63.7% | 34.3% | D+29.4% | R+2.8% |
While the nation trended to the left in 2020, Hawaii shifted slightly to the right; Donald Trump outperformed his 2016 results in the state, although that’s not saying much. His 34% of the vote was the best showing for a Republican in the state since 2004, when George W. Bush pulled an impressive 45% in a year Hawaii was regarded as potentially competitive.
Both congressional districts matched the statewide result almost exactly, with nearly identical trends from the 2016 election.
2022 election results
| District | Incumbent | Democratic | Republican | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ed Case (D) | 73.7% | 26.3% | D+47.4% |
| 2 | OPEN | 62.2% | 35.3% | D+26.9% |
Unsurprisingly, Hawaii did not feature any competitive federal elections in 2022. In the 1st district, Ed Case won re-election by the widest margin of his career, while Democrat Jill Tokuda easily won the open 2nd district, vacated by incumbent Kai Kahele ahead of an unsuccessful run for Governor.
Current Representatives
- HI-01: Ed Case (D-Kāneʻohe)
- HI-02: Jill Tokuda (D-Kāneʻohe)
