The Hawaii State Legislature

The Hawaii state legislature consists of two chambers: a 25-member Senate and an 51-member House of Representatives. The last election took place November 6, 2018. In order to run for the Hawaii State Legislature, the candidate must be the age of majority, which is 18 in Hawaii.

 

Hawaii Demographic Background

Hawaii’s population largely resembles the United States as a whole when it comes to its age distribution. The largest generation are the Baby Boomers (25.70%), followed by Millennials (21.70%). Almost 21% belong to Generation X. The smallest generation is the Silent Generation (12%).1,2

The largest racial/ethnic groups in Hawaii are Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders as well as Asians. Together with people identifying as other races or two or more races, they make up 65.80% of the population.3 About 22% of the population are White/Caucasian. There are 1.70% Black/African American people. Ten percent of Hawaii’s population identify as Hispanic/Latino.

Generational Breakdown of the Hawaii State Legislature

The largest generation represented in the Hawaii state legislature are the Baby Boomers; about 38% belong to this age group. The second largest generation is Generation X (almost 28%). Millennials are represented by 19.70% of state legislators, 10 of them are Young Elected Leaders age 35 or younger. Only 7 legislators (9%) belong to the Silent Generation. We do not have age information on 4 of the 76 legislators.

The House of Representatives has a higher proportion of Millennials than the Senate, 23.50% vs. 12%. There is also a higher share of Representatives of Generation X than of Senators. Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation are on the other hand represented at higher numbers in the Senate than in the House. Therefore, there is a considerable difference in the mean age: A member of the House of Representatives is on average 51 years old, whereas a Senator is on average almost 59 years old. The overall average of the legislature is 53.6 years.

 

Generational Breakdown of the Hawaii House of Representatives
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 12 23.53%
Generation X 15 29.41%
Baby Boomer Generation 17 33.33%
Silent Generation 4 7.84%
NA* 3 5.88%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of the Hawaii House of Representatives is 51.1
  • The youngest member is 25/26 (Cedric Asuega Gates)
  • The oldest member is 85 (Cynthia Henry Thielen)
  • Nine individuals are Young Elected Leaders
    • Cedric Asuega Gates (25/26)
    • Linda E. Ichiyama (31/32)
    • Chris L.T. Todd (30/31)
    • Troy N. Hashimoto (31)
    • Daniel Holt (33/34)
    • Scot Matayoshi (33/34)
    • Takashi Ohno (34/35)
    • Stacelynn K. Marie Eli (34/35)
    • Lauren Matsumoto (31)
Generational Breakdown of the Hawaii Senate
Generation Number of Members % of Total Members
Millenial Generation 3 12.00%
Generation X 6 24.00%
Baby Boomer Generation 12 48.00%
Silent Generation 3 12.00%
NA* 1 4.00%

Note: *Indicates state legislators for whom there is no birth date on record.

  • The average age of the Hawaii Senate is 58.7
  • The youngest member is 34/35 (Dru Mamo Kanuha)
  • The oldest member is 79 (Lorraine Rodero Inouye)
  • There is one Young Elected Leader, Dru Mamo Kanuha

Gender Breakdown of the Hawaii State Legislature

Female legislators are on average about 2 years older than their male colleagues. A third of members in the Hawaii House of Representatives and 28% of members in the Hawaii Senate are women. Of the 9 Young Elected Leaders in the House, a third is female.

Generation X is most gender-equal with 10 female and 11 male legislators. Most of these women are members of the House, where Generation X is represented by more women than men. The Silent Generation is also very gender-balanced overall, with 3 female and 4 male legislators. However, most women of the Silent Generation are members of the Senate.

 

 

Gender of the Hawaii House of Representatives

 

Gender by Generation in the Hawaii House of Representatives

 

Gender of the Hawaii Senate

Gender by Generation in the Hawaii Senate

Ethnic Breakdown of the Hawaii State Legislature

The majority of the legislators in Hawaii’s two chambers are ​Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders and Asian/Pacific Americans (65.79%). About 22% are White/Caucasian. There are 3 Hispanic/Latino legislators and one African American legislator. We do not have information the race/ethnicity of 5 legislators.

Notably, there are differences between the two chambers: In the House, all generations are represented by both Hawaiian/Asian and Pacific American and White Representatives. In the Senate, all White Senators belong to the Baby Boomer Generation. There is one White Young Elected Leader in the Senate. The other YELs are Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders or Asian and Pacific American.

Ethnicity of the Hawaii House of Representatives

Ethnicity by Generation in the Hawaii House of Representatives

 

Ethnicity of the Hawaii Senate

 

Ethnicity by Generation in the Hawaii Senate

Partisan Breakdown of the Hawaii State Legislature

An overwhelming majority of the Hawaii House of Representatives and State Senate are Democrats.  Of the 10 Young Elected Leaders, 9 are Democrats and 1 is a Republican.

 

Partisanship by Generation in the Hawaii House of Representatives

 

Partisanship by Generation in the Hawaii Senate

 

Notes

  1. The Young Elected Leaders Project collects and analyzes data on young elected officials across the country.  We define Young Elected Leaders as officials 35 years and younger. We define the generations following the Pew Research Center:
  • Generation Z: 1997-2012
  • Millennial Generation: 1981-1996
  • Generation X: 1965-1980
  • Baby Boom Generation: 1946-1964
  • Silent Generation: 1928-1945

2. Single Years of Age and Sex, 2010, US Census.  Age range was calculated using 2010 as the year of reference.

3. Demographic and Housing Estimates (Age, Sex, Race, Households and Housing, …) 2017, US Census.

This analysis is based on data from May 2019 and was conducted on July 24, 2019.

See the Young Elected Leaders in the 116th United States Senate