Hawaii state Senator Breene Harimoto (D) died on June 18. He had represented District 16 in the Hawaii State Senate since 2014 and previously served on the Honolulu City Council from 2012 to 2014. Governor David Ige (D) has sixty days to appoint a replacement to represent Harimoto’s district in the chamber.
Harimoto’s death creates the only vacancy in the Hawaii state legislature. The partisan composition of the state Senate is currently 23 Democrats and one Republican in addition to Harimoto’s vacant seat. The Hawaii House of Representatives has 46 Democratic and five Republican members. Hawaii has had a Democratic state government trifecta since 2010, and the Democratic Party has held a majority in the state legislature since 1992.
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