| State: | Hawaii |
| District Number: | 2 |
| Image Caption: | Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023 |
| Representative: | Jill Tokuda |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Residence: | Kāneʻohe |
| Percent Urban: | 83.65 |
| Percent Rural: | 16.35 |
| Population: | 711,869[1] |
| Population Year: | 2023 |
| Median Income: | $89,073[2] |
| Percent White: | 28.4 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 11.3 |
| Percent Black: | 1.2 |
| Percent Asian: | 23.2 |
| Percent Native Hawaiian: | 12.5 |
| Percent More Than One Race: | 22.6 |
| Percent Other Race: | 0.7 |
| Cpvi: | D+14[3] |
Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is represented by Jill Tokuda, who succeeded Kai Kahele after the 2022 election. The district encompasses all rural and most suburban areas of Oahu/Honolulu County, as well as the entire state outside of Oahu. It includes the counties of Kauai, Maui, Kalawao, and Hawaii ("the Big Island"). The district spans 331 miles. The most populous community entirely within the district is Hilo. Major segments of the economy include tourism, ranching, and agriculture.
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 elected to this seat was Ed Case, a Honolulu attorney, though he was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii. The home state office of the second congressional district is at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building near Honolulu Harbor.
When Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the Union in 1959, both new states were granted one at-large representative to Congress pending the next United States census. In the reapportionment following the 1960 U.S. census, Hawaii gained 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 2nd congressional district was created in 1971 when Hawaii began electing its representatives from districts instead of electing at-large representatives statewide.
The 2nd congressional district has a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+14. It has supported the Democratic nominee in every presidential election since 1988, and has never elected a Republican U.S. representative. In October 2019, Representative Tulsi Gabbard announced that she would not seek reelection, instead choosing to focus on her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.
In January 2019, Hawaii state senator Kai Kahele announced he would run for the seat in 2020.[4] Other Democrats who announced were 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 and the general election on November 3.
| Presidential Election Results since 2000 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Result[5] | ||
| 2000 | Al Gore (D) 56% – George W. Bush (R) 36% | ||
| 2004 | John Kerry (D) 56% – George W. Bush (R) 44% | ||
| 2008 | Barack Obama (D) 73% – John McCain (R) 25% | ||
| 2012 | Barack Obama (D) 71% – Mitt Romney (R) 27% | ||
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton (D) 61% – Donald Trump (R) 30% | ||
| 2020 | Joe Biden (D) 64% – Donald Trump (R) 34% | ||
| County | Seat | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawai'i | Hilo | 207,615 | |
| 3 | Honolulu | Honolulu | 989,408 | |
| 5 | Kalawao | None | 81 | |
| 7 | Kauai | Lihue | 73,851 | |
| 9 | Maui | Wailuku | 164,183 |
| Member | Party | Years | Cong ress | Electoral history | District map | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created January 3, 1971 | |||||||||
| align=left | Patsy Mink | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1971 — January 3, 1977 | Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | ||||
| align=left | Daniel Akaka | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 1977 — May 15, 1990 | Elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Resigned when appointed U.S. senator. | ||||
| Vacant | nowrap | May 15, 1990 — September 22, 1990 | |||||||
| align=left | Patsy Mink | Democratic | nowrap | September 22, 1990 — September 28, 2002 | Elected to finish Akaka's term. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Died. Re-elected posthumously in 2002. | ||||
| Vacant | nowrap | September 28, 2002 — November 30, 2002 | |||||||
| align=left | Ed Case | Democratic | nowrap | November 30, 2002 — January 3, 2003 | Elected to finish Mink's term in the 107th Congress. Had not been a candidate for the next term. | ||||
| Vacant | nowrap | January 3, 2003 — January 4, 2003 | 2003–2013 | ||||||
| align=left | Ed Case | Democratic | nowrap | January 4, 2003 — January 3, 2007 | Elected to finish Mink's term in the 108th Congress. Re-elected in 2004. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | ||||
| align=left | Mazie Hirono | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 2007 — January 3, 2013 | Elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Retired to run for U.S. senator. | ||||
| align=left | Tulsi Gabbard | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 2013 — January 3, 2021 | Elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Retired to run for U.S. president. | 2013–2023 | |||
| align=left | Kai Kahele | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 2021 — January 3, 2023 | Elected in 2020. Retired to run for Governor of Hawaii. | ||||
| align=left | Jill Tokuda | Democratic | nowrap | January 3, 2023 — present | Elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024. | 2023–present | |||