In January 2006, when U.S. Rep. Ed Case, announced he was going to run for U.S. Senate for the seat held by longtime beloved Native Hawaiian politician Dan Akaka, all around town, Hawaiʻi Democrats clutched their pearls and gasped, “How dare he!”

Case did not win that challenge, and he would not win an election again until 2018 when, in a crowded primary, he beat out six other Democrats to return to Congress, though this time, representing Hawaiʻi’s First Congressional District.

All these years later, Case is no different. He is the same un-flashy individualist he has always been. He still holds constituent talk-stories more than just about everyone else, but he follows his own convictions and is still unwilling to go along just to get along.

As the corner turns to the 2026 midterm election, Case finds himself with two primary challengers whose main argument against him is that he doesn’t follow the party line.

Well, yeah, no surprise there.

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We used to commend independence as a good thing, but in the last year, Case’s independence has looked like going rogue. Case called for President Joe Biden to withdraw from his 2024 reelection bid. He was one of 10 Democrats in the House to join Republicans in voting to censure Congressman Al Green for interrupting President Donald Trump’s State of the Union by standing up and yelling, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” Most recently, Case voted with Republicans on the SAVE Act, which requires voters to provide documents to prove American citizenship in order to vote in federal elections.

Gasp. How dare he!

“You cannot count on Ed Case when the going gets tough. You’re not an independent if you’re voting with Donald Trump,” said former Hawaiʻi congressman and governor Neil Abercrombie, who has been mad at Case since he dared to take on Dan Akaka, and who is supporting his challenger in the 2026 primary, state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole.

It’s disquieting to see Hawaiʻi Democrats trying to push aside one of their own for not following the party line to the letter. Isn’t that what’s wrong with the Republican party right now? Democrats point out the shameful way GOP lawmakers bend to the will of their president. Within their own party, though, it seems that Democrats expect that same lockstep loyalty and attempt to sideline independent thinkers.

“I have been a very strong Democrat my entire political life,” Case told Hawaii News Now. “But if what they are saying is that somehow I owe 100% of my votes to one part of the Democratic Party, then I reject that basic premise.” 

In the 2026 primary, Case seems likely to face Keohokalole, who conveniently does not have to give up his seat in the Senate to run for Congress. Keohokalole positions himself as someone who would stand up to Trump:

“I’ve found that we’re really hampered by this craziness in Washington,” Keohokalole said in his campaign announcement press conference. “We really need action on that to push back on this chaos.”

State Rep. Della Au Belatti, who has more skin in the game since she must give up her place in the Legislature to run for Case’s seat, also positions herself as a Trump-fighter on her campaign website:

“She’s tired of watching Donald Trump threaten our children’s futures with his dangerous policies, while politicians in Washington let him get away with it.”

Neither Keohokalole nor Belatti had campaign announcements that felt as bold and risky as Case’s did all those years ago, though by positioning themselves as going up against bombastic, chaotic Donald Trump rather than placid renegade Ed Case makes it seem like a more exciting fight.

The look of this race is more telling about the state of the Democratic Party both in Hawaiʻi and nationally. It’s all about who can best stand up to Donald Trump. Case has hardly allied himself with Republicans, but the three recent instances when he has have made other ambitious Democrats see him as vulnerable.

But do we really think a politician from Hawaiʻi has what it takes to take on Donald Trump?  Mazie Hirono talks tough but she doesn’t have the power to even rate an irate social media screed from the president. Josh Green seems to think the way to deal with him is to placate him like dealing with an angry patient with dementia.

Democrats decry polarization – it’s always the other guys who won’t compromise. But Democrats are the ones forcing politicians to pick a side and to never move or concede that sometimes, the other guy did have a point.

To be clear, this is not an endorsement (and Civil Beat does not do those anyway.)  It’s hard to tell which of the three running for the District 1 congressional seat would be the best antidote to Trump’s destructive agenda. Maybe none of the above.

The point I’m trying to make is that Democrats can’t look down on Republican’s rigid adherence to Trump when they’re demanding rigid adherence to the anti-Trump ideology.

Case may not be the biggest bulldog we’ve ever had in D.C., but at least he is still able to think for himself.