Hawaii Democrats head to key swing states for final push before Election Day

Ahead of the election, several Hawaii Democrats spent the weekend knocking on doors—not in Hawaii, but in Michigan.

It’s part of Hawaii’s efforts to campaign in key swing states that will likely determine the outcome of the presidential election.

“That’s kind of the best-kept secret of this election: the entire election depends on about seven states,” Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Derek Turbin said.

He and Rep. Adrian Tam spent the weekend, bundled up in thick jackets, canvassing in Michigan.

“It’s very important to elect Kamala Harris and keep Trump out of the White House,” Turbin said.

“There’s nothing more effective than campaigning in person, actually showing up at people’s doors and campaigning in person, so we decided to go to these important swing states to campaign for her.”

Turbin is referring to Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina and Nevada, which are teetering on the brink of electing Democratic or Republican presidents.

That’s why Turbin led another group of Democrats on the campaign trail in Nevada last month. He says it made sense because the state has so many Asian American and Pacific Islander voters who may have ties to Hawaii.

While walking around the neighborhood, he would notice a car in the driveway with a Hawaii sticker or local logo. “It was something that we were immediately like, ‘Hey, we’re from Hawaii,’ it would definitely fuel the conversation,” Turbin said.

But campaigning in person wasn’t the only way Hawaii residents helped campaign in swing states.

Indivisible Hawaiʻi, a grassroots organization campaigning for Vice President Kamala Harris and Gov. Tim Walz, wrote more than 180,000 cards to people in those key states.

Younghee Overly and Larry Smith have been involved in writing the cards since Trump was elected to the White House in 2016. However, this year public interest in this activity has increased sharply.

“Last year we went from about 50 people writing to about 200 or so, and then this summer, oh my goodness, we tripled that number to 700,” Overly said.

Their focus was on registering new voters and then making sure people knew how to vote in their states, especially in places where voting laws can be confusing.

“People in Hawaii don’t realize that our voting process is very simple and easy, and so it’s not a problem,” Smith said.

“In some states, the laws are very complex and designed to prevent people from voting… I think a lot of what we’re doing now, given the increasing difficulty of people being able to vote, is actually education and assistance. people so they can vote,” he continued.

Both Smith and Overly added that it’s nice to be actively doing something, even in a staunchly blue state like Hawaii.

“The satisfaction definitely continues even after the election is over,” Overly said. “I’m glad we started doing this because otherwise I would have just been worried.”

Voting centers in Hawaii at 7:00 pm on Tuesday. You can view a list of locations where you can drop off a mail-in ballot or vote in person at the Board of Elections. website.