How does government work in Hawaii?

What may surprise you here

• Hawaii has one statewide school system run by the state rather than local school districts. source
• Hawaii judges serve ten-year terms and are retained or renewed through the judicial selection commission, not by a public retention vote. source

Legislature

Name

Legislature of the State of Hawaii source

Senate: seats

25 source

Senate: term in years

4 source

House of Representatives: seats

51 source

House of Representatives: term in years

2 source

Term limits

None source

Structure set by: Art. III, s. 1.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

No more than two consecutive full terms source

Next regular election

2030 source

Lieutenant governor

joint ticket source

Attorney general

appointed by governor source

Secretary of state

no such office source

Courts

Highest court

Supreme Court source

Intermediate appeals court

Intermediate Court of Appeals source

Main trial court

Circuit Courts source

How high-court judges reach the bench

mixed: governor appoints from a judicial selection commission list with senate consent; ten-year terms renewed through the commission source

Local government

Called

county source

How many

5 source

Cities and towns

Counties are the main local governments; the legislature may create other political subdivisions, and four counties have county governments. source

Schools

Hawaii has a single statewide public school system, overseen by a board of education whose members the governor appoints with senate consent. source

Elections

Chief election official

Chief Election Officer source

Who runs elections locally

County elections divisions source

Primary type

open source

Regular governor elections fall in

even source

Citizen initiatives

no source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Josh Green DDemocratic, in office since December 5, 2022. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources