Rep. Ed Case, D-Hawaii, a moderate Democrat, fended off a primary challenger in Saturday’s state election, positioning himself for a sixth term in the House.
Keyes is running for the seat in Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, which he has held since winning the 2018 midterm elections.
He first came to Congress as a representative of the island’s 2nd Congressional District, winning a special election to fill the seat of Rep. Patsy Mink, who died of pneumonia in 2002.
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Moderate Democratic Rep. Ed Case won the primary and is on track to win his sixth full term in November. (Getty Images)
Case left the House of Representatives in January 2007 and returned in January 2019 to represent his district.
He made headlines last month as one of dozens of House Democrats calling on President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, which Biden did later that month.
In a July 11 statement, Case insisted his decision was driven solely by concerns about the 81-year-old leader’s ability to serve another four-year term.
“This has nothing to do with his character or record,” Case said at the time. “If it had been, no decision would have been made.”
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Keyes is one of dozens of House Democrats calling on President Biden to drop out of the 2024 race. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Case is no stranger to crowded primaries, having defeated 44 candidates in the final two months of 2002 to replace Mink.
This time, however, he faces only one primary challenger, Cecil Hale, who appears to have failed to disclose campaign finance data to the Federal Election Commission.
By comparison, Case raised nearly $120,000 in individual donations and ended the first cycle with nearly $260,000 in cash on hand.
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A possible win for Keyes in November would be welcome for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries as he seeks to flip the House blue. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
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Hawaii has only two congressional districts, both represented by Democrats, and its two senators are also Democrats.
It’s a safe blue stronghold for the left despite widespread issues like the high cost of living, which has traditionally been a powerful political weapon for Republicans in other parts of the country.
Republican Patrick Largey will challenge Case unopposed for the Republican nomination in November.
