Hawaii Republican Party
The Hawaii Republican Party (Hawaiian: ʻAoʻao Lepupalika o Hawaiʻi) is the affiliate of the Republican Party (GOP) in Hawaii, headquartered in Honolulu. The party was strong during Hawaii's territorial days, but following the Hawaii Democratic Revolution of 1954 the Democratic Party came to dominate Hawaii. The party currently has little power and is the weakest state affiliate of the national Republican Party; it controls none of Hawaii's statewide or federal elected offices and has the least presence in the state legislature of any state Republican party.
Republican Party of Hawaii ʻAoʻao Lepupalika o Hawaiʻi
May 2, 1900
History[edit]
Republic[edit]
Following the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and the creation of the Republic of Hawaii, the American Union Party was created and as the Republic of Hawaii was a de facto one-party state, it faced virtually no opposition. On October 13, 1894, the American Union Party held its first convention, where it established the party's organization, created a platform, and nominated candidates for the 1894 elections.[1] The party's official stance was in favor of annexation by the United States, although as the only legal party, anti-annexation factions were present within the party.
Territorial[edit]
After Hawaii was annexed on July 12, 1898, the majority of the American Union Party's members created the Hawaii Republican Party. On March 10, 1899, members of the American Union Party and former leaders of the Republic held a meeting where they decided to postpone the organization of a Republican Party and the creation of an auxiliary party organization.[2]
On May 2, 1900, around one hundred men organized the Republican Party affiliate in Hawaii. The first Republican Convention was held on May 30, 1900. Temporary officers were selected, a platform was created, and delegates were chosen to send to the Republican National Convention in June.[3][4]
Although a Democratic affiliate existed in the territory, it held little influence, while the pro-Native Hawaiian Home Rule Party emerged as the main opposition. In 1900, the Home Rule Party took control of the territorial legislature and its leader, Robert William Wilcox, was elected as Hawaii's non-voting delegate to the House of Representatives. Prior to the 1902 election, the Reform Party merged into the Hawaii Republican Party. The Home Rule Party split when Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole left its convention on July 10 to form the Hui Kuokoa Party. Shortly afterward he joined the Republicans.[5] In the following elections, the Republicans defeated Wilcox by running Prince Kalanianaʻole, taking control of the legislature with 26 of the 36 seats. Following this defeat, the Home Rule Party existed in a weakened form until 1912, when it fused with the Republicans. The Republican Party led the so-called "Haole-Hawaiian Alliance," with uninterrupted Legislative majorities until Democrats took control of the Legislature in 1954.
The Democratic Party of Hawaii was reorganized in 1902, but did not become influential until the 1920s, when it won multiple Honolulu mayoral elections and elected William Paul Jarrett as delegate to the House of Representatives. However, the Republican party retook the delegation to the House through the 1930s and 1940s, due to support from the Big Five sugar producers. A seminal moment in Hawaiian history, the power of the Big Five was weakened by the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, which lead to unionization on Hawaii's sugar plantations and ultimately the Democratic Revolution of 1954.[6] In elections that year, the Republicans lost control of the territorial legislature for the first time since 1900, as the Democratic affiliate won nine of the fifteen territorial senate seats and twenty two of the thirty territorial house seats. The Democrats retained control of the legislature in the 1956 elections, before the Republicans retook control of the senate in 1958.
Statehood[edit]
On May 16, 1959, the affiliate held its first state convention where most of the officer positions went uncontested except for national committeewoman and where the candidates for the upcoming federal and state special elections.[7] In the gubernatorial election incumbent Territorial Governor and Republican William F. Quinn won by 4,139 votes; in the Senate special elections Republican Hiram Fong won by 9,514 votes while Wilfred Tsukiyama was narrowly defeated by 4,577 votes; and Republicans lost the House in a landslide.
During the 1998 gubernatorial election Maui Mayor Linda Lingle won the Republican nomination and used dissatisfaction with Governor Ben Cayetano's handling of the economy to propel her campaign. She polled above Cayetano. However, allegations that Lingle was a lesbian and her decision as mayor to require state employees to work on Christmas Eve hurt her. In the general election she lost by 5,254 votes. However, her gubernatorial campaign was the most successful since Randolph Crossley in 1966.
In 1999 Lingle and many of her supporters took over leadership positions in the party. Lingle defeated James Kuroiwa Jr., who was aligned with the party's conservative wing and was pro-life, to become chairwoman with 325 to 63 votes.[8]
During the 2002 gubernatorial election the Democratic party had a contentious primary where Mazie Hirono defeated Ed Case by 2,000 votes. Hirono's campaign was later hurt by corruption allegations that allowed Lingle to narrowly win the election, becoming the first Republican governor since 1962. She won reelection in 2006 and became the only multi-term popularly elected Republican governor in Hawaii history.
During the 2004 presidential election multiple polls showed George W. Bush performing well in Hawaii and the party made a push to win a House majority or at least enough to prevent veto overrides.[9] However, the Bush campaign later decreased its efforts in Hawaii and Republicans instead lost five seats, despite Bush taking 45% of the votes, the closet the Republicans had come to winning the state in a presidential election since Ronald Reagan's victory in 1984.[10]
In 2010 Representative Neil Abercrombie resigned to focus on his gubernatorial campaign. A special election was held to fill that vacancy. Because special elections did not have primaries, two Democrats candidates ended up splitting Democrat votes, allowing Charles Djou to win with a plurality of 40% to became the first Republican representative from Hawaii since Pat Saiki in 1991. He was defeated in the next general election by Colleen Hanabusa.
Following Donald Trump's election as president, many Republicans defected: Charles Djou became an independent and state House Minority Leader Beth Fukumoto became a Democrat.[11] On December 11, 2019, the party cancelled its presidential preference poll and committed all of its primary delegates to Trump.[12] In January 2021, party chair Shirlene Ostrov and vice-chair Edwin Boyette resigned after Boyette used the party's Twitter account to post a series of tweets praising the QAnon conspiracy theory and describing its adherents as patriots.[13][14][15]
Positions[edit]
Economics[edit]
Hawaiʻi Republicans advocate for limited government, lower taxes, decentralized control of public schools, and improving the state's business climate.[16] Republicans generally support business plans and efforts to assist companies in the state in competing against businesses in other states. They typically support interstate and international commerce. For example, former Lieutenant Governor Duke Aiona pushed to keep the National Football League's Pro Bowl in Hawaii, and former Governor Linda Lingle proposed tax reduction incentives to businesses to encourage job creation, such as hotel renovations.
