HONOLULU — Faced with the unfolding reality of a Republican takeover of the White House and U.S. Senate, local Democratic leaders urged focus, commitment and continued work at all government levels Tuesday evening at an election watch event sponsored by the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

What You Need To Know

  • As early evidence of Kamala Harris’ underperformance in key states flashing on the screen behind him, state Senate President Ron Kouchi turned his attention to the important role Hawaii’s Congressional delegation will play regardless of who assumes the presidency
  • U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said state and local governments will be more important than ever in preserving rights and freedoms threatened by a second Trump administration
  • U.S. Rep. Ed Case had spent the late afternoon sign waving in Kapolei and said he was struck by the number of in-person voters who turned out at the voter service center at Kapolei Hale
  • Gov. Josh Green also denounced the Trump-Vance campaign for lying, demonizing opponents and sowing fear in the weeks leading up to the General Election

 

“The day after the election, as we know, is the most important (day), the one where we figure out what kind of country we want to rise up to be,” said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda. “If there’s any state that can lead the way in showing us how we should act, the values we should uphold, it is this state.

“It is about making sure that tomorrow we remind America it is also about aloha,” she said. “It is about coming together for the state of our country, for the sake of our children and doing what is right.”

The event started in the late afternoon with a measured sense of optimism as early returns confirmed the tight race predicted by pollsters over the last several months. But a sense of resignation soon set in as electoral indicators in several key states started to turn in the GOP’s favor and Vice President Kamala Harris’ path to the presidency narrowed.

As early evidence of Kamala Harris’ underperformance in key states flashing on the screen behind him, state Senate President Ron Kouchi turned his attention to the important role Hawaii’s Congressional delegation will play regardless of who assumes the presidency.

“What can Hawaii do to make a difference in D.C.?” Kouchi said. “It’s to send Jill Tokuda back to Congress. It’s to send Ed Case back to Congress. It’s to send Sen. Hirono — who probably gets under former President Trump’s skin more than any other U.S. senator — back to Congress.”

Sen. Brian Schatz is not up for reelection this year.

Kouchi said the delegation will ensure that Hawaii continues to get its fair share of resources going forward.”

“Especially for our friends and family on Maui, they’re going to be critical to make sure that help gets back here to Hawaii so that we can rebuild lives, rebuild families and rebuild our community,” he said.

U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono said state and local governments will be more important than ever in preserving rights and freedoms threatened by a second Trump administration.

Hirono’s comments came as news was breaking that the Democrats had lost control of the U.S. Senate.

“The local races we’re watching are going to be so critical because many of the rights that we need to protect will have to be (protected) at the local level,” she said. “A lot of the issues we care about will have to be accomplished through the legislative arena. Whether it’s voting protections or women’s rights to control their bodies, a lot of that is going to be done at the local level so these local results are going to be very, very important.”

A block from the Inspiration Hawaii Museum, where the watch party was held, more than a thousand would-be voters remained in line as the voter service center at Honolulu Hale officially closed. Those already in line were assured under state law the right to cast their ballots, although it would be several more hours before those at the back would get their opportunity.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case had spent the late afternoon sign waving in Kapolei and said he was struck by the number of in-person voters who turned out at the voter service center at Kapolei Hale.

“It was a four- or five-hour wait and during the entire time I was there, from about 4 until 6:15 (p.m.), that line only increased,” he said. “I talked to people as they came by and one person said something to me that just stuck with me. He said, ‘people don’t come down and wait five hours in the rain if they think things are going to be O.K.’ That’s something we have to listen to.”

Case said he and other leaders need to listen to voters in “the most raw and direct way that voters have,” i.e., their vote.

“If we win tomorrow, we have to sit down and ask ourselves ‘why did we win’ and ‘why was it such a close one?’” he said. “If we lose, obviously we have to sit down and ask why ourselves honestly, ‘what were they saying to us?’ and ‘how can we lead this country forward?’”

Like other speakers at Tuesday's Hawaii Democratic Party watch event, Case emphasized the importance of working diligently to achieve the party’s goals in a dynamic political environment.

“Going forward, the secret to our success is going to be responding to a changing electorate here in Hawaii and nationally to continue to maintain our values, to adapt our actual policies without giving up our values, to adapt to a continually changing world and to continue to demonstrate here in Hawaii what this country can and should be,” he said.

As the watch party loped to a premature end following the announcement that the first local results would not be available until late in the evening, Gov. Josh Green took to the podium to speak in stark terms about which party, win or lose, he felt was best for Hawaii and the country at large.

“At the end of the day, there is a right and there is a wrong and we have to remember that if the country makes a mistake — and it would be a mistake to put a person like Donald Trump back in the White House — we have to remember that there is an absolute right to fight for people, to care for people,” he said.

Green spoke of the “hurt” he felt knowing that his 17-year-old daughter Maia would be heading off to college next year and that the likely president “would not care about women, would flaunt their power over them, would stand up as president of the United States and not look out for those individuals.”

He also denounced the Trump-Vance campaign for lying, demonizing opponents and sowing fear in the weeks leading up to the General Election.

“Be ready to be brave,” Green told the watch party crowd. “We may have to fight in new ways, to preserve our budget, to preserve our values, to fight for health insurance, to stand up for women if they happen to need an abortion, to make sure that people have food on their plates at school. It may be a much bigger fight than we have had to engage in in the past, but I have every expectation that this room and this state will carry on that fight hopefully until the day America sees what is right and what is wrong, and that we live to fight another day, if not the White House today, absolutely in the days ahead.”

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.