Hawaiʻi Democrats came together over the weekend for a customary Unity Breakfast, a tradition held the morning following each primary election.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, who was not on the ballot this year but has been to many unity breakfasts over the years, spoke at the event.
“It's actually not about the name on the bumper sticker. It's actually not about that. It is about our shared values,” Schatz said.
“Never more than now has this been absolutely critical to understand that there are people who put their name up and there are people who support those who put their name up. There are people who succeed in the primary and people who don't — and in this room, none of that matters at all because we are all one team," he said.
This comes after Kim Coco Iwamoto unseated House Speaker Scott Saiki, which will mean a massive change in the state Legislature. With no Republican challenger, Iwamoto has won the seat outright.
Saiki has been speaker since 2017 and has been a member of the House since 1994.
In a statement, Saiki thanked his supporters and highlighted some of his team’s accomplishments, including passing a large income tax break last session.
“This is an essential part of the democratic process,” he wrote. “To serve House District 25 has been the honor of a lifetime.”
Rep. Nadine Nakamura, the House majority leader, explained that change is normal in government.
“It happens as part of the cycle, and when voters have a say in the democratic process, this is what happens,” she said. “So it will be a leadership transition and we will work together. The bottom line is that the needs of the families of Hawaiʻi are addressed and taken care of.”
When the Legislature reconvenes in January, House lawmakers will need to vote for the next speaker.
The new speaker will have the opportunity to rejigger the House’s committee assignments and chair positions.
Derek Turbin, chair of the Hawaiʻi Democratic Party, explained that they will use the momentum from the primary election to win in November.
He’s closely watching the race for the North Shore Senate seat, currently held by Republican Brenton Awa. Ben Schafer won the Democratic nomination this weekend in the primary, beating out veteran lawmaker Clayton Hee.
“I think if you looked at the turnout, both Democratic candidates Schafer and Clayton got more votes than Brenton Awa. So that's really promising,” Turbin said.
“I think we’ve got a good shot to flip some seats out on the West side. We got to protect the seats out in Wai'anae, Maʻili, but also see if we can flip a couple of those too," he said.
Meanwhile, across the aisle, the Republicans did not have their unity breakfast this year. Instead, they will be hosting candidate forums leading up to the general election on Nov. 5.
Overall, voter turnout was down in the primary election this year at just 31%. In 2022, it was almost 40%.
But a bump is expected in the general election due to the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
