Hawaii's 2nd congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

. It is represented by

Jill Tokuda Jill Naomi Tokuda (born March 3, 1976) is an American politician and business owner serving as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district since 2023. Tokuda is one of three Japanese Americans who currently serve in the Hou ...

, who succeeded Kai Kahele after the 2022 election. The district encompasses all rural and most suburban areas of

Oahu Oahu (, , sometimes written Oahu) is the third-largest and most populated island of the Hawaiian Islands and of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital, Honolulu, is on Oahu's southeast coast. The island of Oahu and the uninhabited Northwe ...

/ Honolulu County, as well as the entire state outside of Oahu. It includes the counties of

Kauai Kauai (), anglicized as Kauai ( or ), is one of the main Hawaiian Islands. It has an area of 562.3 square miles (1,456.4 km2), making it the fourth-largest of the islands and the 21st-largest island in the United States. Kauai lies 73 m ...

Maui Maui (; Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ) is the second largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the List of islands of the United States by area, 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of ...

, Kalawao, and

("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 Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

ranch A ranch (from /Mexican Spanish) is an area of landscape, land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of farm. These terms are most often ap ...

ing, and

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

. 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 Edward Espenett Case (born September 27, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 2019, which covers the urban core o ...

, a

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

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 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 departme ...

near

Honolulu Harbor Honolulu Harbor, also called ''Kulolia'' and ''Ke Awa O Kou'' and the Port of Honolulu, is the principal seaport of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu and the Hawaii, State of Hawaii in the United States. From the harbor, the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City ...

History

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

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

representative to Congress pending the next

United States census The United States census (plural censuses or census) is a census that is legally mandated by the Constitution of the United States. It takes place every ten years. The first census after the American Revolution was taken in 1790 United States ce ...

. 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 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

, 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 The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated PVI or CPVI, is a measurement of how partisan a U.S. congressional district or U.S. state is. This partisanship is indicated as lean towards either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, com ...

of D+12. 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 Tulsi Gabbard (; born April 12, 1981) is an American politician and military officer serving as the director of National Intelligence, director of national intelligence (DNI) since 2025. She has held the rank of Lieutenant colonel (United Stat ...

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. 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.

Recent election results from statewide races

Composition

For the 118th and successive Congresses (based on redistricting following the 2020 census), the district contains all or portions of the following counties and communities:https://www2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd118/cd_based/ST15/CD118_HI01.pdf
/ref> Hawai'i County (55) : All 55 communities Honolulu County (35) : 'Āhuimanu, Hale'iwa, Hau'ula, He'eia, Helemano, Ka'a'awa, Kailua, Kahalu'u, Kahuku, Kalaeloa (part; also

1st First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

), Kāneʻohe, Kāneʻohe Base, Kapolei, Kawela Bay, Ko Olina, Lā'ie, Mā'ili, Mākaha, Mākaha Valley, Makakilo, Maunawili, Mokulē'ia, Nānākuli, Punalu'u, Pūpūkea, Royal Kunia, Schofield Barracks, Wahiawa, Waiāhole-Waikāne, Waialua, Waianae, Waimānalo, Waimānalo Beach, Wheeler AFB, Whitmore Village Kalawao County (4) : All 4 communities Kauai County (24) : All 24 communities Maui County (31) : All 31 communities

List of members representing the district

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

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{coord, 19, 48, 35, N, 155, 30, 22, W, region:US_type:city_source:kolossus-eswiki, display=title 2 Tulsi Gabbard