HPR has been surveying the political landscape as the 2026 state legislative session has gotten underway and Gov. Josh Green has delivered his State of the State address.
Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi Chair Derek Turbin stopped by The Conversation on Monday morning to talk about criticism aimed at national leadership and the possible effects on various state and local-level races.
Interview highlights
On Democrats at the national level
DEREK TURBIN: I think the party's in a really good place. Let's start nationally, we've been crushing it in special elections, the 2025 off-cycle elections. We had record margins in states like Virginia, New Jersey. And then if you go and look at some smaller races in swing districts, we've been doing really well. … The anger is real, and the anger is towards this administration, and their attack on our civil rights, our constitutional norms. And yes, there is anger towards the Democratic Party, coming from Democrats, but that anger is also getting channeled to the ballot box, and that Democrats nationally are taking action. We're winning the redistricting battles. Another big win last week was the Supreme Court upheld the Proposition 50 maps in California, not giving us, but helping us with, I believe, six congressional seats in California. So Democrats are winning everywhere. But of course, the anger is real. The anger is real at this administration, and also some of it does get channeled to Democrats nationally and locally.
On the Hawaiʻi Legislature
TURBIN: Yeah, absolutely, 2024, there were some state House flips here in Hawaiʻi, but we're going to be on the offensive in 2026. I really think we got a good shot at winning back some of those seats on West Oʻahu and Central Oʻahu, and we're going to be aggressive and try to win those seats back. One of the things that we have to note here in Hawaiʻi is that President Trump, some polls have him at the lowest approval rating in Hawaiʻi than any other state in the country. Being on the offensive, people want to protect American democracy. People see what immigration enforcement is doing in other states, and they don't want that to happen here. So folks here in Hawaiʻi are going to vote Democrat in some of the more purple districts, such as West Oʻahu, Central Oʻahu, and even some of the Windward Oʻahu seats that we lost back in 2024.
On ICE and election polling places
TURBIN: Yeah, that's really — is concerning but that's something we're also preparing for. We're preparing nationally as Democrats for intimidation. They're going to try to scare people away from voting. They're going to try to push people out of the polls. And we have a plan for that. We're going to be coming out in force, Democrats ensuring that people can safely approach the polls and vote. And that's an old playbook that Republicans have been trying to utilize for the longest time. Actually in 2020 that's something that Republicans were trying to do in Georgia. And I was actually in Georgia for the special elections, electing the two Democratic senators in 2021, where they would line up law enforcement folks at polls and rural southern places, primarily African American communities, and Democrats came out in force. We marched to the polls. We had music playing at the polls. We had different methods to make people feel safe and comfortable voting in these rural, Republican leaning areas. And we're going to do that again in 2026 nationally, to ensure that Democrats feel safe going to the polls despite the intimidation.
On leading the Democratic Party of Hawaiʻi
TURBIN: It's a tremendous honor. Obviously, this is a challenging time, especially with this administration, but I'm honored to be leading the Democratic Party in a time where we're really focusing on protecting democracy. We're also making a real push for focusing on affordability, whether it's help paying your bills or making sure that we have affordable health care. And that message has been resonating with voters.
This story aired on The Conversation on Feb. 9, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
