As the dust settles from the November 6th mid-term elections, Hawaii's new legislature comes into view.
Twelve new legislators (three senators and nine house members) are poised to take the oath of office in the Aloha State's 30th legislature on opening day in January next year.
Typical for Hawaii, several unopposed races were won outright during the August primary, while a few others were hard-fought battles right up to election night.
Republicans mounted limited mid-term challenges contesting just 13 state legislative seats against the 56 held by Democratic incumbents.
Yet two very visible results from races for open seats added up to a gain of one (from 5 to 6) for the total number Republicans in Hawaii's legislature.
Kurt Fevella, after running for the fourth time from Ewa Beach, will now serve as the only Republican in the Hawaii Senate, barely defeating former Representative Matt LoPresti (D) by less than a one percent margin. Fevella will represent constituents in Senate District 19.
Val Okimoto, a Republican from Mililani running for the first time, defeated experienced Democratic candidate Marilyn Lee by a nine-point margin and will now represent House District 36.
Regardless of party, Convention of States Hawaii will be reaching out to each of the 12 new lawmakers to educate and recruit new sponsorship for our Convention of States resolution poised to once again be filed next session.
Here is a list of the newest state legislators in Hawaii showing the number of COS petition signatures in their districts:
To learn more, sign the petition for your area, and volunteer to help Convention of States Hawaii visit our webpage here.
