Back in December of 2023, co-creator of Politics Hawaii with Stan Fichtman, and this blogger were discussing the upcoming election campaigns that were shaping up, even then. Those campaigns ended on Saturday, August 10, when the results of the primary elections were announced.
PC “RIP SENATOR DANIEL INOUYE OF HAWAII WWII VETERAN” by roberthuffstutter is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Even at that time, it seemed as though at least one election race would be particularly interesting to follow, possibly becoming the main event. That race was for the State Representative District 37 on the Democratic ticket. The contenders were Trish La Chica, the incumbent, and Ken Inouye, the son of former Hawaii Senator Dan Inouye – a highly respected figure in Hawaii politics whose impact on the state is still evident today.
Going back to the discussion, Brandon and I discussed the contest regarding whether there was a snowball’s chance that La Chica could beat what was (and probably still is) the son of a legend.
The direct way that Brandon expressed it to me was in these terms “How do you slay a baby dragon?”
Back in December, the answer was “you can’t” or at least you could try but be ready to be injured a great deal in trying to slay it. In electoral terms, both candidates would have to hit the ground and do door-to-door retail politicking that, in some areas, can take months.
Fast forward to the 10th of August and the results from the primary election. It turns out that yes, you can slay a baby dragon. And it turns out that they can be slain based on the actions they do during the campaign. Along with good old-fashioned door-to-door work that this district race demanded.
PC: Hawaii Office of Elections, statewide report 8-11-2024
In the early part of the campaign, Ken Inouye took a different approach. Instead of directly informing voters that he was the son of Senator Dan Inouye and connecting that to his desire to serve the community, he chose to take an alternative direction to engage with voters.
According to those who have shared their mana’o on the race with PHwSF, Inouye’s approach to the electorate didn’t elicit an immediate reference to his dad. Instead, according to sources, lots of constituents in the Mililani area did not even know who he was, or his legacy for that matter.
Meanwhile, La Chica made a presence in the district even though she was, at that time, just an appointed member of the Legislature by the Governor. Having a legacy of not winning past elections, she needed to “step it up” and leverage the work of her office to make an impression on voters.
PC: Ballotopiedia District 37
In December, there were mixed feelings among pundits and observers about whether she would be able to accomplish that. Given the assumption that Ken’s last name would immediately generate a lot of support, she would need to work hard to convince voters to choose a future vision and a new face over simply going for legacy.
Turns out, La Chica must have heard that concern too from her supporters and did step it up. Because Inouye was not willing to use his father’s name to gain support, approaching the campaign as promoting himself as his own man without the legacy, made it easier for La Chica to effectively tell the voters who she was.
One lesson from these results, for those interested in politics, is that an incumbent challenged by someone from a political family shouldn’t be underestimated as a potential election winner. Despite Inouye’s choice of not emphasizing his family’s political legacy in Hawaii, he needed to present a vision that was distinct and appealing to Mililani voters.
At the end of the day, that didn’t happen, and so La Chica moved forward into the General election, going up against Republican Taylor Kaaumoana for the District 37 House seat.