If money is any indicator — and in elections it usually is — the Democratic primary for Hawaiʻi’s 1st Congressional District is beginning to heat up. 

Between April 1 and June 30, incumbent U.S. Rep. Ed Case and his opponent, state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, reported spending roughly $660,000 to bolster their campaigns. The split was nearly even but the ways they doled out their cash differed significantly.

The bulk of Case’s money, more than $300,000, went to Olomana Loomis, a Honolulu-based marketing agency, to help with media production, ad buys and online newsletters. 

Keohokalole, on the other hand, spread his money around. While most went toward advertising, he also spent on text messaging services, polling, salaries for campaign workers and hiring Erick Sanchez, a mainland consultant who was Andrew Yang’s press secretary during his 2020 presidential campaign and is experienced in making candidates and causes go viral. 

In each case, the candidates spent more than they raised in the past quarter, but Case is better positioned to keep throwing money into the race since he’s raised more overall during the election cycle and has more money in the bank. 

Since January 2025 Case has raised nearly $1 million while Keohokalole, who entered the race in July that year, has pulled in $835,000. 

While Keohokalole has outspent Case so far during the election cycle, Case’s campaign reported having nearly $774,000 in cash on hand at the end of June (he’d started the election cycle with hundreds of thousands already in the bank from previous campaigns) while Keohokalole reported just $178,000. 

The candidates were nearly even in terms of funds raised as well. Case reported around $226,000 in total contributions during the past quarter. Nearly half of those dollars came from political action committees, including those with ties to the defense sector, space exploration and sugar. 

He also received individual contributions from prominent executives, including some tied to some of Hawaiʻi’s most recognizable and influential businesses, such as Howard Hughes Hawaiʻi, Castle & Cooke, Hawaiian Airlines, Hawaiʻi Gas and ABC Stores. 

Other noteworthy contributors include William Aila, a prominent Native Hawaiian leader and former head of the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Chamber of Commerce Hawaiʻi President and CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara and Steve Case, the billionaire co-founder of AOL who is also his cousin.

Keohokalole, meanwhile, got the bulk of his nearly $250,000 in contributions from individual donors. Those contributing to his campaign represent a wide range of companies, organizations and interests, including healthcare and law. 

Current and former politicians have also donated to his campaign, including Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, former Maui state senator Gil Keith Agaran and Randall Iwase, a former state senator and chairman of the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission who won the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006 but ultimately lost to incumbent Linda Lingle. 

In general, Keohokalole has been successful garnering support from those who have long sought to undermine Case’s political career, including key figures in the Democratic establishment, who were upset with him for running against U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka in 2006. Keohokalole is also getting help from top players in the shipping industry who are at odds with Case over his opposition to the Jones Act, a 120-year-old maritime law that he blames for adding to Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living. 

Keohokalole’s also won the financial support of some commercial fishing interests in the islands. Among those donating to his campaign in the last quarter were Michael Goto, who runs the Honolulu fish auction and Roger Dang, a Hawai‘i Longline Association director who was recently reappointed to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which has consistently sought to undermine marine protections that Case and others in Hawaiʻi’s federal delegation have fought to preserve. 

Only a handful of PACs donated to Keohokalole’s campaign in the last quarter, including those affiliated with the Masters, Mates & Pilots Union, the Bank of Hawaiʻi and the Maui Land & Pineapple Co. 

‘Any Sign Of Weakness’

The money gap is only growing in the race for Hawaiʻi’s 2nd Congressional District, which will most likely pit incumbent U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda against Republican state Sen. Brenton Awa in the November general election. Tokuda faces little competition in the Aug. 8 Democratic primary and Awa is unopposed in the GOP primary. 

Tokuda’s campaign reported raising more than $145,000 in the last quarter while Awa reported just under $14,000 in contributions. Tokuda’s campaign reported having more than $600,000 in cash available compared to about $19,000 for Awa.

The disparity, however, hasn’t stopped Tokuda’s campaign from warning voters about the potential for outside money to come into the race. In a recent fundraising email, she said that national Republicans and “shady outside spending groups” will all be watching the race and “looking for any sign of weakness.” 

So far, no super PACs or other outside groups registered with the Federal Election Commission have reported spending any money in the race.