Tulsi Gabbardis the director of national intelligence in PresidentDonald Trump's (R) second administration. The Senate voted 52-48 to confirm her on February 12, 2025. Trump announced he had selected Gabbard as his nominee for director of national intelligence on November 13, 2024. Gabbard was a Democratic member of the U.S. House, representing Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District from 2013 to 2021. She also ran forpresident of the United Statesin 2020 as a Democratbefore becoming an independent in 2022 and then a Republicanin 2024. Gabbard was born in 1981 in Leloaloa, American Samoa, and grew up in Hawaii. She was a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard from 2003 to 2020. She deployed on two tours of duty in the Middle East. Citing these tours, Gabbard said the United States destabilized the region and should reduce its presence in the Middle East. Gabbard graduated from the Accelerated Officer Candidate School at the Alabama Military Academy in 2007 and received a bachelor's degree in international business from Hawaii Pacific University in 2009. In 2020, Gabbard joined the United States Army Reserve. Gabbard's political career began in 2002 when she was elected to Hawaii House of Representatives District 42as a Democrat. At 21, she was the youngest legislator in Hawaii's history. She served in the state House until 2004 when she resigned to deploy to Iraq. Gabbard was elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010. She served on the council until 2012, resigning to run for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. She was the first Hindu elected to Congressand represented the district as a Democrat from 2013 to 2021. While in Congress, Gabbard was Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee. As Vice Chair, she said she was required to stay neutral in Democratic primaries and in February 2016 she resigned to endorse U.S. SenatorBernie Sanders' (Independent) for president. Later in her congressional career, she voted "present" instead of yes or no on Trump's2019 impeachmentand voted with Republicans on a bill to vet Iraqi and Syrian refugees. Gabbard ran for president in 2020 before dropping out in March of that year. On October 11, 2022, Gabbard left the Democratic Partyand became an independent, saying, "Today’s Democratic Party is unrecognizable from the party I joined 20 years ago."On October 22, 2024, Gabbard announced she was joining the Republican Party. She said, "I’m joining the party of the people, the party of equality, the party that was founded to fight against and end slavery in this country. It is the party of common sense, and the party that is led by a president, who has the courage and strength to fight for peace."
HI House District 2
Incumbent: Jill Tokuda · Democrat
3 candidates · Incumbent first
Jill Tokuda (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. Her current term ends on January 3, 2027. Tokuda (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. She declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on August 8, 2026.
Brenton Awa (Republican Party) is a member of the Hawaii State Senate, representing District 23. He assumed office on November 8, 2022. His current term ends on November 7, 2028. Awa (Republican Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Republican primary scheduled on August 8, 2026. Awa began serving as State Senate Minority Leaderin 2025.