With just days to go, the 2024 contest between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is neck and neck in the battleground states that will decide the Nov. 5 election, according to opinion polls.
But Hawaii, the nation’s 50th state, remains reliably and historically Democratic, more so since its most famous resident and former President Barack Obama , became the party’s nominee in 2006. But that wasn’t always the case.
Before achieving statehood in 1959, the Republican party was the dominant force in the Legislature of Territorial Hawaii. However, the island’s strategic location in the Pacific became a Cold War intelligence hub , making Hawaii vital to U.S. defense interests.
But since the 1954 territorial elections , Hawaii has frequently held a Democratic trifecta , which means control of the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature. In its 65-year history as a state, voters have elected only two Republican governors and sent just three Republicans to the U.S. House of Representatives.