Hawaii's 1st District Primary

This Saturday, voters in Hawaii's 1st congressional district, covering urban Honolulu and the surrounding Oahu communities, will decide four separate party primaries. Hawaii holds traditional partisan primaries: each party's winner advances directly to the Nov. 3 general election, with no top-two or ranked-choice mechanism. The Democratic primary is the only one that's actually contested, with five candidates competing to face token opposition in November. Republicans, the Green Party and the Nonpartisan primary each field a single candidate who advances unopposed.

The Candidates

Rep. Ed Case (D-HI) has held the seat since 2019, when he reclaimed it after a 12-year absence from Congress. He sits on the House Appropriations Committee and has built a record as one of the chamber's more moderate Democrats, a positioning that draws support from centrists and challenges from the left in a district where Democratic primary voters skew progressive.

His most prominent challenger is state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D), who represents Senate District 24 (Kaneohe and Kailua), chairs the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, serves as an Assistant Majority Whip, and co-chairs the Native Hawaiian Caucus. Both the national Indivisible organization and its Hawaii chapter have endorsed his campaign, framing it as a progressive alternative to Case's record, including his vote for the SAVE Act.

The remaining Democrats: Ben Fatula, an Army veteran and chef running on ICE accountability and government ethics reform; Nicholas Kiswanto, a self-funded political organizer; and Jennifer Booker, whose platform centers on removing corporate money from politics.

Adriel Lam, a retired Army officer running for the Republican nomination, faces no primary opponent, as do the Green and Nonpartisan candidates.

The Money Behind the Race

Case leads all fundraisers with $1,093,795 raised and $599,649 in cash on hand as of the period ending July 19, 2026, according to FEC filings. Keohokalole isn't far behind on receipts, at $963,458 raised, though heavier spending has left him with just $81,387 on hand.

Former state Rep. Della Au Belatti raised $172,458 before withdrawing from the race, according to Ballotpedia's current candidate listing; her FEC filings remain part of the record even though she's no longer an active candidate. The other four active candidates, Fatula, Kiswanto, Booker and Lam, show no processed FEC fundraising data for this period.

Ratings vs. Odds

Cook Political Report and Inside Elections both rate the general election Solid Democratic. Sabato's Crystal Ball rates it Safe Democratic, consistent with a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+13 and a district that hasn't elected a Republican since Charles Djou's single term following a 2010 special election.

None of the three raters weigh in on primaries, which is exactly why Saturday's outcome is the real contest here. On Polymarket, Case is favored to win renomination at 82%, with Keohokalole at 15% and the rest of the field in low single digits, as of 12:04 p.m. ET on Thursday, Aug. 6, on $14,968 in trading volume. Whoever wins Saturday will be a heavy favorite in November: the same district that makes the primary the only real fight also makes the general election close to academic.

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