Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district

Congressional district

A congressional district is “a geographical division of a state from which one member of the House of Representatives is elected.”Congressional Districts are made up of three main components, a representative, constituents, and the specific land area that both the representative and the...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. The district encompasses all rural and most suburban areas that are part of the City and County of Honolulu

Honolulu County, Hawaii

The City and County of Honolulu is a consolidated city–county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The municipality and county includes both the urban district of Honolulu and the rest of the island of Oahu, as well as several minor outlying islands, including all of the Northwestern Hawaiian...

, which covers all of the island of Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

. While the urban areas of Oahu are part of the Hawaii's 1st Congressional District, the 2nd Congressional District includes all of the Windward, North Shore, Central, and Leeward regions of Oahu. It also includes the entire state outside of Oahu. This includes the areas located in the counties of Kauai

Kauai County, Hawaii

Kauai County is a county located in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It consists of the islands of Kauai, Niihau, Lehua, and Kaula, in the state of Hawaii. As of 2000 Census the population was 58,463...

 (which includes the islands of Kauai

Kauai

Kauai or Kauai, known as Tauai in the ancient Kaua'i dialect, is geologically the oldest of the main Hawaiian Islands. With an area of , it is the fourth largest of the main islands in the Hawaiian archipelago, and the 21st largest island in the United States. Known also as the "Garden Isle",...

, Niihau

Niihau

Niihau or Niihau is the seventh largest of the inhabited Hawaiian Islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii, having an area of . Niihau lies southwest of Kauai across the Kaulakahi Channel. Several intermittent playa lakes provide wetland habitats for the Hawaiian Coot, the Black-winged Stilt, and the...

, Lehua

Lehua

Lehua is a small, crescent-shaped island in the Hawaiian islands, only north of Niihau, due west of Kauai. The uninhabited, barren island is a tuff cone which is part of the extinct Niihau volcano....

, and Kaula), Maui

Maui County, Hawaii

-National protected areas:* Haleakala National Park* Kakahaia National Wildlife Refuge* Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge- Demographics :As of the 2000 Census, there were 128,094 people, 43,507 households, and 29,889 families residing in the county. The population density was 110 people per...

 (which consists of the islands of Maui

Maui

The island of Maui is the second-largest of the Hawaiian Islands at and is the 17th largest island in the United States. Maui is part of the state of Hawaii and is the largest of Maui County's four islands, bigger than Lānai, Kahoolawe, and Molokai. In 2010, Maui had a population of 144,444,...

, Kahoolawe

Kahoolawe

Kahoolawe is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about seven miles southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lanai, and it is long by wide, with a total land area of . The highest point on Kahoolawe is the crater of Lua Makika at the...

, Lānai

Lanai

Lānai or Lanai is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is also known as the Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation. The only town is Lānai City, a small settlement....

, Molokai

Molokai

Molokai or Molokai is an island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is 38 by 10 miles in size with a land area of , making it the fifth largest of the main Hawaiian Islands and the 27th largest island in the United States. It lies east of Oahu across the 25-mile wide Kaiwi Channel and north of...

 except for a portion of Molokai that comprises Kalawao County

Kalawao County, Hawaii

-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 147 people, 115 households, and 21 families residing in the county. The population density was 11 people per square mile . There were 172 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile...

, and Molokini

Molokini

Molokini is a crescent-shaped, partially submerged volcanic crater which forms a small islet located in Alalakeiki Channel between the islands of Maui and Kahoolawe, part of Maui County in Hawaii. It has an area of , a diameter of about , and is located about west of Makena State Park and south...

) and Hawaii coextensive with the Island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

, often called "the Big Island." The district spans 331 miles. The most populous city entirely within the district is Hilo. Major segments of the economy include tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

, ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

ing, and agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

, especially pineapple

Pineapple

Pineapple is the common name for a tropical plant and its edible fruit, which is actually a multiple fruit consisting of coalesced berries. It was given the name pineapple due to its resemblance to a pine cone. The pineapple is by far the most economically important plant in the Bromeliaceae...

 and sugarcane

Sugarcane

Sugarcane refers to any of six to 37 species of tall perennial grasses of the genus Saccharum . Native to the warm temperate to tropical regions of South Asia, they have stout, jointed, fibrous stalks that are rich in sugar, and measure two to six metres tall...

 cultivation.

The district is currently represented by Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Mazie Hirono

Mazie Hirono

is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.She was the second Asian immigrant elected lieutenant governor of a state of the United States. She ran against Linda Lingle for governor of Hawaii in 2002, one of the few gubernatorial races in United...

.

History

When Hawaii and Alaska were admitted to the Union in 1959, both new states were granted one at-large

At-Large

At-large is a designation for representative members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent the whole membership of the body , rather than a subset of that membership...

 Representative to Congress pending the next United States Census

United States Census

The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...

. In the reapportionment following the 1960 U.S. Census, Hawaii was entitled to 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

88th United States Congress

The Eighty-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1963 to January 3, 1965, during the last year of...

.

The 2nd Congressional District was created in 1971 when Hawaii began electing its representatives from districts instead of electing an at-large U.S. Representative statewide.

Political profile

Historically, the 2nd Congressional District has been the more Democratic of the state's two districts, with a Cook Partisan Voting Index

Cook Partisan Voting Index

The Cook Partisan Voting Index , sometimes referred to as simply the Partisan Voting Index , is a measurement of how strongly an American congressional district or state leans toward one political party compared to the nation as a whole...

 of D+14.

In 2004

United States presidential election, 2004

The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator...

, President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 received just 44 percent of the vote in this district to 56 percent for Democrat John Kerry

John Kerry

John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...

.

In 2008

United States presidential election, 2008

The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...

, Democrat and Hawaii native Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 carried this district overwhelmingly with 73 percent of the vote.

Residency requirement

Under the U.S. Constitution, a candidate for this district only has to be a resident of Hawaii, but does not have to live in the district itself. The first non-resident to be elected to this U.S. House seat was Ed Case

Ed Case

Edward Espenett "Ed" Case is a Democratic politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Case, a Blue Dog Democrat, first came to prominence in Hawaii as majority leader of the Hawaii State Legislature and for his campaign for Governor of Hawaii in 2002...

, a Honolulu

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

 attorney

Attorney at law

An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in such court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer...

, though Case was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii

Hawaii (island)

The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...

. The home state office of the Second Congressional District is at the Prince Kuhio Federal Building

Prince Kuhio Federal Building

The Prince Kūhiō Federal Building, formally the Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaole Federal Building and United States Courthouse, is the official seat of the United States federal government and its local branches of various agencies and departments in the state of Hawaii...

 near Honolulu Harbor

Honolulu Harbor

Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...

.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Congress(es)	Notes
Patsy Mink Patsy Mink Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third generation Japanese American and member of the Democratic Party. She also was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.Mink served in the U.S...	Democratic Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii is an arm of the Democratic Party of the United States based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention biennially...	January 3, 1971 — January 3, 1977	92nd 92nd United States Congress The Ninety-second United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives...   93rd 93rd United States Congress The Ninety-third United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1973 to January 3, 1975, during the end of Richard...   94th 94th United States Congress The Ninety-fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1975 to January 3, 1977, during the administration...	Redistricted from the ; Retired to run for U.S. Senator
Daniel Akaka Daniel Akaka Daniel Kahikina Akaka is the junior U.S. Senator from Hawaii and a member of the Democratic Party. He is the first U.S. Senator of Native Hawaiian ancestry and is currently the only member of the Senate who has Chinese ancestry....	Democratic Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii is an arm of the Democratic Party of the United States based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention biennially...	January 3, 1977 — May 15, 1990	95th 95th United States Congress The Ninety-fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1977 to January 3, 1979, during the first two years...   96th 96th United States Congress The Ninety-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1979 to January 3, 1981, during the last two years...   97th 97th United States Congress The Ninety-seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1981 to January 3, 1983, during the final weeks of...   98th 98th United States Congress The Ninety-eighth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1985, during the third and...   99th 99th United States Congress The Ninety-ninth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1985 to January 3, 1987, during the fifth and sixth...   100th 100th United States Congress -House of Representatives:- Senate :* President: George H.W. Bush * President pro tempore: John Stennis - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader, Democratic Conference Chairman, and Democratic Policy Committee Chairman: Robert Byrd...   101st 101st United States Congress The One Hundred First United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1989 to January 3, 1991, during the first two...	Resigned when appointed to the U.S. Senate
Vacant		May 16, 1990 — September 21, 1990	101st 101st United States Congress The One Hundred First United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1989 to January 3, 1991, during the first two...
Patsy Mink Patsy Mink Patsy Matsu Takemoto Mink was an American politician from the U.S. state of Hawaii. Mink was a third generation Japanese American and member of the Democratic Party. She also was the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.Mink served in the U.S...	Democratic Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii is an arm of the Democratic Party of the United States based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention biennially...	September 22, 1990 — September 28, 2002	101st 101st United States Congress The One Hundred First United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1989 to January 3, 1991, during the first two...   102nd 102nd United States Congress -House of Representatives:- Senate :* President:Dan Quayle * President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell* Majority Whip: Wendell Ford- Minority leadership :...   103rd 103rd United States Congress - House of Representatives :- Leadership :- Senate :* President: Dan Quayle , until January 20, 1993** Al Gore , from January 20, 1993* President pro tempore: Robert Byrd - Majority leadership :* Majority Leader: George Mitchell...   104th 104th United States Congress The One Hundred Fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1995 to January 3, 1997, during the third and...   105th 105th United States Congress The One Hundred Fifth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1997 to January 3, 1999, during the fifth and...   106th 106th United States Congress The One Hundred Sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from January 3, 1999 to January 3, 2001, during the last two...   107th 107th United States Congress The One Hundred Seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final...	Died in office (shortly after winning the 2002 Democratic primary)
Vacant		September 29, 2002 — November 29, 2002	107th 107th United States Congress The One Hundred Seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final...	Mink's name remained on the 2002 general election ballot; she was re-elected posthumously
Ed Case Ed Case Edward Espenett "Ed" Case is a Democratic politician and a former member of the United States House of Representatives. Case, a Blue Dog Democrat, first came to prominence in Hawaii as majority leader of the Hawaii State Legislature and for his campaign for Governor of Hawaii in 2002...	Democratic Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii is an arm of the Democratic Party of the United States based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention biennially...	November 30, 2002 — January 3, 2007	107th 107th United States Congress The One Hundred Seventh United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 2001 to January 3, 2003, during the final...   108th 108th United States Congress The One Hundred Eighth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives from January 3, 2003 to January 3, 2005, during the third and fourth years of George W. Bush's...   109th 109th United States Congress The One Hundred Ninth United States Congress was the legislative branch of the United States, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, from January 3, 2005 to January 3, 2007, during the fifth and sixth years of George W. Bush's presidency. House members...	Won special elections to complete Mink's unexpired 107th Congress term (on Nov. 30, 2002) and to fill her vacant 108th Congress seat (on Jan. 4, 2003). Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
Mazie Hirono Mazie Hirono is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. She is a member of the Democratic Party.She was the second Asian immigrant elected lieutenant governor of a state of the United States. She ran against Linda Lingle for governor of Hawaii in 2002, one of the few gubernatorial races in United...	Democratic Democratic Party of Hawaii The Democratic Party of Hawaii is an arm of the Democratic Party of the United States based in Honolulu, Hawaii. The party is a centralized organization established to promote the party platform as drafted in convention biennially...	January 3, 2007 — Present	110th 110th United States Congress The One Hundred Tenth United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, between January 3, 2007, and January 3, 2009, during the last two years of the second term of President George W. Bush. It was composed of the Senate and the House of...   111th 111th United States Congress The One Hundred Eleventh United States Congress was the meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government from January 3, 2009 until January 3, 2011. It began during the last two weeks of the George W. Bush administration, with the remainder spanning the first two years of...   112th 112th United States Congress The One Hundred Twelfth United States Congress is the current meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It convened in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 2011, and will end on January...	Incumbent

Election results

1970 • 1972 • 1974 • 1976 • 1978 • 1980 • 1982 • 1984 • 1986 • 1988 • 1990 (Special) • 1990 • 1992 • 1994 • 1996  • 1998 • 2000 • 2002 • 2002 (Special) • 2003 (Special) • 2004 • 2006 • 2008 • 2010

1970

1972

1974

1976

1978

1980

1982

1984

1986

1988

1990 (Special)

1990

1992

1994

1996

1998

2000

2002

2002 (Special)

2003 (Special)

2004

2006

2008

2010