Why Single-Party Domination of Hawai‘i Politics Is Harmful to the Aloha State
The Democrats’ Near-Monopoly Makes Voters Tune Out, Sidesteps Urgent Policy Questions, and Places Factional Infighting Above Shared Ideals
Most Americans have become accustomed to the bitter divide between Republicans and Democrats in Washington. Yet closely fought competition between the parties is the exception rather than the rule in many state capitals. In 34 states, a single party controls both houses of the state’s legislature and holds the governorship. In 1992, this state government trifecta existed in only 16.
No state is more dominated by a single political party than Hawai‘i. Today, there are no Republicans in Hawai‘i’s state senate and there are only five Republicans out of 51 members …
