2002–03 Hawaii's 2nd congressional district special elections

There were two United States House of Representatives special elections in Hawaii's 2nd congressional district within 35 days of each other to select the successor to Democrat Patsy Mink who had died from pneumonia. The elections, held November 30, 2002, and January 4, 2003, were officially nonpartisan and each held as general elections without primaries to pick a successor for the remainder of her term in the 107th Congress and for the next term in the 108th Congress, to which Mink was posthumously re-elected. Both elections were won by Democrat Ed Case.

Background

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On August 30, 2002, Mink was hospitalized in Honolulu's Straub Clinic and Hospital with complications from chickenpox. Her condition steadily worsened, and on September 28, 2002, Mink died in Honolulu of viral pneumonia. The week prior to her untimely death, she had won renomination. By this point, it was too late to remove her name from the general election ballot. On November 5, 2002, Mink was posthumously re-elected over state Representative Bob McDermott (R). As a result, this triggered two separate special elections: the first to fill the vacancy during the end of the 107th Congress and the second for the new term beginning on January 3, 2003. In accordance with Hawaiian law the elections were single nonpartisan races without primaries.

Election to the 107th Congress (November 30, 2002)

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Results by state house district
  Case
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Mink
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%

The two most notable candidates to compete in the first election were then-state representative and former state House Majority Leader Ed Case and John Mink, the former husband of the late Congresswoman. Despite the latter's connections to the district's prior representative, Case would win the election with fifty-one percent of the vote.

2002 Hawaii's 2nd district special election[1]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ed Case 23,576 51.44%
Democratic John Mink 16,624 36.27%
Republican John S. Carroll 1,933 4.22%
Republican Whitney Anderson 942 2.06%
Nonpartisan Mark McNett 449 0.98%
Democratic Kekoa David Kaapu 269 0.59%
Republican Richard Haake 229 0.50%
Republican Doug Fairhurst 173 0.38%
Republican Kimo Kaloi 149 0.33%
Green Nick Nikhilananda 136 0.30%
Democratic Solomon Nalua'i 116 0.25%
Republican Walter R. Barnes 94 0.21%
Republican Carolyn Golojuch 94 0.21%
Republican Clifford Rhodes 86 0.19%
Republican Timmy Yuen 85 0.19%
Republican Joe Conner 83 0.18%
Republican Joseph Payne 69 0.15%
Democratic Brian G. Cole 67 0.15%
Democratic John L. Baker 66 0.14%
Democratic Michael Gagne 62 0.14%
Republican Bob Schieve 55 0.12%
Nonpartisan Ron Jacobs 54 0.12%
Nonpartisan Lillian Hong 51 0.11%
Democratic Art Reyes 51 0.11%
Nonpartisan John Mayer 47 0.10%
Libertarian Jeff Mallan 33 0.07%
Libertarian Lawrence Duquesne 32 0.07%
Democratic Steve Tataii 28 0.06%
Nonpartisan Bill Russell 27 0.06%
Nonpartisan John Parker 27 0.06%
Green Gregory Goodwin 27 0.06%
Democratic Charles Collins 18 0.04%
Nonpartisan Jack Randall 16 0.03%
Democratic Paul Britos 15 0.03%
Nonpartisan Dan A. Cole 15 0.03%
Nonpartisan Mike Rethman 11 0.02%
Nonpartisan S.J. Harlan 10 0.02%
Nonpartisan Robert Martin Jr. 10 0.02%
Total votes 46,216 100%

Election to the 108th Congress (January 4, 2003)

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Results by state house district
  Case
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Matsunaga
  •   30–40%
  •   40–50%
  •   50–60%
  Hanabusa
  •   30–40%

The now-freshman incumbent Case immediately ran for reelection in the early January 2003 race for the second district seat in the 108th Congress, going up against more than three dozen other candidates. Other Democrats included state Senators Matt Matsunaga and Colleen Hanabusa. Republicans included state Representatives Barbara Marumoto and Bob McDermott, and former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi. Case won this election with 43 percent of the vote.

2003 Hawaii's 2nd district special election[2]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Ed Case 33,002 43.67%
Democratic Matt Matsunaga 23,050 30.5%
Democratic Colleen Hanabusa 6,046 8.00%
Republican Barbara Marumoto 4,497 5.95%
Republican Bob McDermott 4,298 5.69%
Republican Chris Halford 728 0.96%
Republican Kimo Kaloi 642 0.85%
Republican John S. Carroll 521 0.69%
Republican Frank Fasi 483 0.64%
Nonpartisan Mark McNett 449 0.59%
Republican Jim Rath 414 0.55%
Republican Richard Haake 212 0.28%
Republican Nelson Secretario 208 0.28%
Republican Whitney Anderson 201 0.27%
Nonpartisan Ron Jacobs 91 0.12%
Green Nick Nikhilananda 75 0.10%
Democratic Brian G. Cole 69 0.09%
Democratic Kekoa David Kaapu 68 0.09%
Libertarian Jeff Mallan 58 0.08%
Nonpartisan Sophie Mataafa 52 0.07%
Republican Doug Fairhurst 38 0.05%
Democratic Michael Gagne 35 0.05%
Republican Carolyn Martinez Golojuch 29 0.04%
Green Gregory Goodwin 27 0.04%
Republican Rich Payne 25 0.03%
Republican Clarence Weatherwax 25 0.03%
Nonpartisan Kabba Anand 24 0.03%
Nonpartisan Dan Vierra 22 0.03%
Republican John Sabey 20 0.03%
Democratic Pat Rocco 19 0.03%
Nonpartisan Bill Russell 18 0.02%
Nonpartisan Steve Sparks 17 0.02%
Nonpartisan Solomon Wong 16 0.02%
Democratic Art Reyes 15 0.02%
Democratic Paul Britos 13 0.02%
Nonpartisan S.J. Harlan 11 0.01%
Democratic Charles Collins 10 0.01%
Nonpartisan Jack Randall 9 0.01%
Democratic Steve Tataii 9 0.01%
Nonpartisan Marshall Turner 8 0.01%
Republican Mike Rethman 8 0.01%
Democratic Herbert Jensen 6 0.01%
Nonpartisan Alan Gano 3 0.01%
Nonpartisan Bartle Rowland 3 0.01%
Total votes 76,328 100%

References

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  1. ^ "Office of Elections". elections.hawaii.gov. Retrieved September 26, 2019.
  2. ^ "SPECIAL ELECTION - STATE OF HAWAII - STATEWIDE" (PDF). January 5, 2003. Retrieved February 25, 2020.