back to top

September 19

back to top

back to top

Total Number: 3

To Watch:
Constitutional Amendment 2: Same-sex Marriage
Would give the legislature the power to reserve marriage to opposite-sex couples, but would remain open to the petitions of those seeking same-sex marriages.

back to top

PARTY CONTROL

Governor: Democrat
U.S. Senate: 2 Democrats
U.S. House of Representatives, 2 Democrats
State Senate: 23 Democrats, 2 Republicans
State House of Representatives: 39 Democrats, 12 Republicans

Senate: 14 seats up
House: All 51 seats up

None

State Projected Voting Age Population: 890,000 (1996)
Registered Voters: 582,558 (8/98)

4

LAST TIME VOTED DEMOCRATIC: 1996

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1996:

Clinton 57%
Dole 32%
Perot 8%
Other 4%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1992:

Clinton 48%
Bush 37%
Perot 14%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1988:

Dukakis 54%
Bush 45%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1984:

Reagan 55%
Mondale 44%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1980:

Carter 45%
Reagan 43%
Anderson 11%

1992:

• President
• Senate

1996:

• President

Historical voter turnout as a percentage of the voting age population 1996-1960

Population: 1,184,000 (1996)
(% of voting age population)

White: 34.4%
African American: 2.3%
Asian: 61.3%
Native American: 0.4%
Other/Undeclared: 1.7%

Persons of Hispanic origin account for 6.1% of the voting population (from 1990 Census)

State Capitals: Honolulu
State Nickname: Aloha State

Hawaii, which became a state in 1959, is a place of ironies, geographically one of the most isolated places on Earth, yet home to an eclectic mix of cultures. While pineapples and sugar cane once drove Hawaii's economy, the state now relies on tourism, which has surpassed agriculture as the state's major industry in the last decade, and its strategic military position to fuel its economy. The Asian financial crisis has taken a terrible toll on the state, both on the stock market and on the tourism business which drives the state's economy. A traditionally liberal, Democratic state, all of Hawaii's elected statewide officials and its two U.S. representatives are Democrats, with the exception of 12 Republicans in the State House and only two in the State Senate. A state economy that lags behind the nation and changing demographics mean the races of 1998 are not such sure-things for the incumbent Democrats. Democratic Gov. Benjamin Cayetano is Hawaii's first Filipino-American governor. This year, Cayetano faces a woman challenger, Republican Maui Mayor Linda Crockett Lingle. In 1994, Cayetano prevailed over another woman, former Republican Congresswoman Patricia Saiki, who came in third. Saiki, while still in Congress in 1990, lost to Akaka. In 1984, Ronald Reagan was the last Republican presidential nominee to win the state. Richard Nixon was the first Republican to win the state in the 1972 presidential race.

NOTE: External sites will open in a new browser window.

Government:

News Media:

CNN Affiliates:

State Newspapers:

General Interest:

back to top