The 50th state of the U.S., Hawaii, will be electing one member to the U.S. Senate in the general election to be held on November 8, 2022. At the moment, there are five (5) contenders in the state’s senate race. However, things will likely come to a showdown between the Incumbent Senator Democrat Brian Schatz and Republican Bob McDermott.

Brian Schatz, the current serving senior United States senator for the state, entered the office in 2012 after he was appointed by Governor Neil Abercrombie to fill the position of Senator Daniel Inouye, following his passing. He was serving as the state’s lieutenant governor at the time of this appointment. Schatz has served as the chairman for the Democratic Party of Hawaii (2008-2010) and, before that, he was in the Hawaii House of Representatives (1998-2006). He’s currently running for his second full term. As the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation and Housing, he has been instrumental in helping the state secure federal money. Recently, he obtained a $23 million earmark to help realign the highway. If reelected into office, he promises to, “…strengthen and protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.”

The challenger, Bob McDermott, has been serving District 40 in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2012. Some notable milestones in his political career so far include opposing background checks to register firearms out of state, advocating national border protection, and supporting letting the homeless sleep in driveways. He also sued the state over overcrowding schools in 2017. If elected, McDermott promises to enact federal bipartisan legislation that would compel the U.S. Department of Defense to shut down the Red Hill facility. In addition to ensuring that the U.S. DoD complies with this directive, he wants to ensure they do so, “…with timelines and necessary oversight for a complete shutdown and a complete decommissioning within 12 months.” Beyond this, McDermott intends to tackle other issues like inflation, lax immigration laws, and the erosion of the school curriculum.

So, Hawaii residents are faced with the question, who would make a better representative to the Senate from Hawaii, Democrat Brian Schatz or Republican Bob McDermott?