WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.100 Welcome in. We are just so glad you are joining 00:00:03.100 --> 00:00:06.219 us today for another deep dive. Absolutely. You 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:08.179 know, we spend a lot of time sifting through 00:00:08.179 --> 00:00:10.660 massive amounts of information looking for those 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:13.119 hidden gems, the kind of things that make you 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:16.140 sit back, pause, and just say, wow, I really 00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.239 had no idea. Right, the stuff hiding in plain 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:22.120 sight. Exactly. And today we have a fantastic 00:00:22.120 --> 00:00:25.730 deep dive planned just for you. We are going 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:28.769 to be exploring a Wikipedia article titled List 00:00:28.769 --> 00:00:31.789 of United States Senators from Hawaii. Which 00:00:31.789 --> 00:00:34.530 I know. I know what might be going through your 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:37.109 head right now. You hear Wikipedia list and you 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:39.770 probably picture this very dry standard table 00:00:39.770 --> 00:00:44.070 of names, dates, political affiliations. Just 00:00:44.070 --> 00:00:46.390 a spreadsheet basically. Right. It sounds exactly 00:00:46.390 --> 00:00:48.170 like the kind of page you might just scroll past 00:00:48.170 --> 00:00:50.250 if you were casually browsing the Internet late 00:00:50.250 --> 00:00:53.030 at night. But our mission today is to take that 00:00:53.030 --> 00:00:56.880 exact. table and extract the hidden aha moments. 00:00:57.119 --> 00:00:59.200 And there are a lot of them. There really are. 00:00:59.399 --> 00:01:02.899 We are going to uncover incredible mind bending 00:01:02.899 --> 00:01:06.060 details about political stability, unique representation 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:09.579 and just the absolute quirks of history in the 00:01:09.579 --> 00:01:13.359 Aloha State. So if you love finding the extraordinary 00:01:13.359 --> 00:01:16.500 hidden right there in the seemingly ordinary, 00:01:16.840 --> 00:01:19.819 you are in the exact right place. It really is 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.579 the perfect example of how raw data. tells a 00:01:22.579 --> 00:01:24.959 massive story if you know how to look at it. 00:01:25.219 --> 00:01:27.480 When you look closely at this specific list, 00:01:27.700 --> 00:01:30.400 it is not just a bland record of who held an 00:01:30.400 --> 00:01:32.879 office. It's an anomaly. It's a mathematical 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.959 anomaly that defies the statistical norms of 00:01:35.959 --> 00:01:38.019 almost every other state in the entire country. 00:01:38.379 --> 00:01:40.459 We're going to see patterns of incumbency and 00:01:40.459 --> 00:01:42.519 demographic representation that are entirely 00:01:42.519 --> 00:01:45.000 unique to Hawaii. It is a fascinating reflection 00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:47.340 on how a state operates on the federal level. 00:01:47.420 --> 00:01:49.859 And it's all hidden right there within the columns 00:01:49.859 --> 00:01:52.120 and rows of a digital encyclopedia. OK, let's 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:53.739 unpack this. Let's set the baselines. We are 00:01:53.739 --> 00:01:55.519 all on the exact same page before we get into 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.140 the wild stuff. Sounds good. So Hawaii was admitted 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:02.319 to the union on August 21st, 1959. That date 00:02:02.319 --> 00:02:04.239 is the starting line for everything we are going 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.760 to talk about today. Now, when a state joins 00:02:06.760 --> 00:02:09.340 the union, as you probably know, they get two 00:02:09.340 --> 00:02:11.960 United States senators. And I want you to think 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:14.280 about the U .S. Senate. is a highly exclusive 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:17.479 club. Extremely exclusive. Right. It is incredibly 00:02:17.479 --> 00:02:19.639 hard to get into. You have to campaign endlessly. 00:02:20.139 --> 00:02:23.800 And there are only 100 members at any given time. 00:02:24.080 --> 00:02:27.580 But the Hawaii chapter of this club, it is arguably 00:02:27.580 --> 00:02:29.759 one of the most exclusive groups in the entire 00:02:29.759 --> 00:02:31.719 country. Without a doubt. Since that admission 00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:34.919 date back in August of 1959, do you want to guess 00:02:34.919 --> 00:02:37.580 how many people have ever served as a U .S. senator 00:02:37.580 --> 00:02:41.039 from Hawaii? It's crazy. Seven. Just seven people 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:43.460 in the entire history of the state. That number 00:02:43.460 --> 00:02:45.740 really gives you pause when you consider the 00:02:45.740 --> 00:02:47.840 timeframe we are talking about here. Yeah. From 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:50.560 1959 to the present day, which is well over six 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:53.360 decades of history, countless election cycles, 00:02:53.620 --> 00:02:57.560 massive cultural shifts, wars, economic booms 00:02:57.560 --> 00:03:00.900 and busts. Only seven individuals have held those 00:03:00.900 --> 00:03:03.180 two seats. Just seven. To put that into perspective 00:03:03.180 --> 00:03:05.599 for you, just think about how many U .S. presidents 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:07.780 have come and gone in that exact same period. 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:10.289 Oh, wow. Or think about how many senators have 00:03:10.289 --> 00:03:12.590 cycled through other states. Right. But in Hawaii, 00:03:12.930 --> 00:03:16.090 the senatorial delegation has remained incredibly, 00:03:16.349 --> 00:03:19.830 almost unimaginably consistent. Which brings 00:03:19.830 --> 00:03:22.530 us to a staggering statistic. We talk about the 00:03:22.530 --> 00:03:24.909 incumbent advantage a lot in politics. Right, 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:26.569 the idea that... The general idea that if you 00:03:26.569 --> 00:03:28.729 already hold the seat, you have a distinct edge 00:03:28.729 --> 00:03:32.139 in keeping it. Because of name recognition, fundraising, 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.900 all of that. Exactly. Well, Hawaii takes that 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:38.400 basic concept and turns it into an absolute impenetrable 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.560 fortress. Hawaii is the only U .S. state that 00:03:41.560 --> 00:03:44.039 has never defeated an incumbent senator in either 00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:47.229 a primary or a general election. Never. Let me 00:03:47.229 --> 00:03:49.150 just repeat that for you, because it is wild 00:03:49.150 --> 00:03:51.530 to think about. In the entire history of the 00:03:51.530 --> 00:03:54.590 state, an incumbent senator from Hawaii has literally 00:03:54.590 --> 00:03:58.030 never lost their seat at the ballot box. Zero 00:03:58.030 --> 00:04:01.930 primary defeats. Zero general election defeats. 00:04:01.930 --> 00:04:03.969 What's fascinating here is the profound political 00:04:03.969 --> 00:04:07.830 continuity this represents. A 100 % incumbency 00:04:07.830 --> 00:04:10.469 retention rate is not just a fun trivia fact 00:04:10.469 --> 00:04:12.810 you bring up at a dinner party. It is a testament 00:04:12.810 --> 00:04:15.530 to an unparalleled level of electoral stability. 00:04:15.949 --> 00:04:19.410 When you never load out an incumbent, it completely 00:04:19.410 --> 00:04:21.610 changes the mechanics of a political career. 00:04:21.769 --> 00:04:23.519 Wait, hold on. Let me make sure I'm wrapping 00:04:23.519 --> 00:04:25.199 my head around this. Yeah. You're saying in over 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:28.439 60 years, not a single person woke up on Election 00:04:28.439 --> 00:04:30.980 Day and successfully voted out a sitting Hawaii 00:04:30.980 --> 00:04:34.779 senator. Not once. That defies basically every 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:38.060 rule of modern politics. I mean, in other states, 00:04:38.100 --> 00:04:40.699 if a senator steps out of line, someone from 00:04:40.699 --> 00:04:42.519 their own party will challenge them in the primary 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:44.220 to kick them out before the general election 00:04:44.220 --> 00:04:46.779 even starts. Or you see wave elections. Exactly. 00:04:46.779 --> 00:04:49.339 A massive wave election happens where the whole 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:52.879 country shifts red or blue. away incumbents who 00:04:52.879 --> 00:04:54.779 thought they were totally safe. You see it all 00:04:54.779 --> 00:04:57.040 the time in swing states like Ohio or Florida, 00:04:57.139 --> 00:05:00.259 where seats flip back and forth. But in Hawaii, 00:05:00.579 --> 00:05:03.319 that simply does not happen. It simply does not 00:05:03.319 --> 00:05:05.240 happen. And because they never lose at the ballot 00:05:05.240 --> 00:05:07.860 box, it means the only way a vacancy ever occurs 00:05:07.860 --> 00:05:10.399 in Hawaii is through life events or personal 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:12.980 choices. The transitions of power have exclusively 00:05:12.980 --> 00:05:15.600 happened through voluntary retirements or deaths 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:19.220 in office. For example, Orin E. Long served his 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:22.509 time and retired. Hiram Fawn retired. Later on, 00:05:22.509 --> 00:05:25.110 Daniel Akaka retired. Right. Those are the only 00:05:25.110 --> 00:05:27.170 times those seats opened up voluntarily for a 00:05:27.170 --> 00:05:29.449 new generation. And when they didn't voluntarily 00:05:29.449 --> 00:05:32.829 step down, they served until the very end. Spark 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:36.009 Matsunaga died in office on April 15th, 1990. 00:05:36.689 --> 00:05:40.189 And Daniel Isnu died in office on December 17th. 00:05:40.430 --> 00:05:43.189 2012. Yes. It is just incredible to think about. 00:05:43.310 --> 00:05:45.949 If you are an elected senator in Hawaii, history 00:05:45.949 --> 00:05:47.930 dictates that you are there until you choose 00:05:47.930 --> 00:05:50.069 to walk away and enjoy your retirement or until 00:05:50.069 --> 00:05:52.810 you pass away. The sheer job security is unlike 00:05:52.810 --> 00:05:55.910 anything else in the country. It is a true incumbency 00:05:55.910 --> 00:05:58.329 fortress. It really is. And to your earlier point 00:05:58.329 --> 00:06:01.089 about swing states, this shifts the entire dynamic 00:06:01.089 --> 00:06:03.250 of how representation works for Hawaii voters. 00:06:03.389 --> 00:06:06.149 How so? Well, when you effectively remove the 00:06:06.149 --> 00:06:08.370 mechanism of an incumbent being ousted by the 00:06:08.370 --> 00:06:10.639 voters, the election Elections that truly matter, 00:06:10.740 --> 00:06:12.579 the ones that shape the next generation of politics, 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:15.779 become the open seat elections. Oh, I see. Those 00:06:15.779 --> 00:06:18.339 are the rare fleeting moments when a retirement 00:06:18.339 --> 00:06:21.259 or a death creates a vacancy. Because whoever 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:24.629 wins that open seat is... statistically speaking, 00:06:24.870 --> 00:06:26.689 going to hold it for as long as they possibly 00:06:26.689 --> 00:06:28.889 want to. Here's where it gets really interesting. 00:06:29.029 --> 00:06:30.790 Let's pivot to the political makeup of these 00:06:30.790 --> 00:06:33.569 seven specific individuals, because this, a fortress 00:06:33.569 --> 00:06:36.769 of incumbency, is heavily, heavily concentrated 00:06:36.769 --> 00:06:40.029 on one side of the aisle. Very heavily. Out of 00:06:40.029 --> 00:06:41.990 those seven people who have served since 1959, 00:06:42.449 --> 00:06:44.850 only one has ever been a Republican. Just one. 00:06:45.050 --> 00:06:47.639 Yes. His name was Hiram Fong. He held the class 00:06:47.639 --> 00:06:50.560 one seat representing Honolulu. He was elected 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.899 right at the very beginning, serving from statehood 00:06:52.899 --> 00:06:56.519 on August 21st, 1959, until he retired on January 00:06:56.519 --> 00:07:00.699 3, 1977. Every single other senator on this list 00:07:00.699 --> 00:07:03.019 has been a Democrat. And because Hiram Fong is 00:07:03.019 --> 00:07:05.399 the sole Republican in the state's entire senatorial 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:07.720 history, it creates another massive statistical 00:07:07.720 --> 00:07:11.040 anomaly. OK. Hawaii holds the longest streak 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.139 in the nation for having all Democratic senators. 00:07:13.500 --> 00:07:16.759 They last elected a Republican in 1970, which 00:07:16.759 --> 00:07:18.959 was Hiram Fong's final reelection before his 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:21.680 eventual retirement. Wow, 1970. Ever since that 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.920 1970 election, it has been exclusively Democrats 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:28.680 sent to Washington. Furthermore, if you look 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:30.860 at the class three seat, the other Senate seat. 00:07:31.610 --> 00:07:34.050 It has always been held by a member of the Democratic 00:07:34.050 --> 00:07:36.949 Party from the very moment Hawaii became a state. 00:07:37.069 --> 00:07:39.250 Now, before we dive any deeper into these numbers, 00:07:39.350 --> 00:07:41.069 I want to take a quick time out and make something 00:07:41.069 --> 00:07:44.009 explicitly clear to you, our listener. Yes, this 00:07:44.009 --> 00:07:46.560 is important. As we discuss these streaks and 00:07:46.560 --> 00:07:48.759 the historical dominance of the Democratic Party 00:07:48.759 --> 00:07:51.360 in these seats, we are looking at this entirely 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:53.759 impartially. We are not taking sides here whatsoever. 00:07:54.180 --> 00:07:56.240 Absolutely not. Whether a state votes entirely 00:07:56.240 --> 00:07:59.480 blue, entirely red or anything in between. Our 00:07:59.480 --> 00:08:02.040 goal in this deep dive is simply to analyze the 00:08:02.040 --> 00:08:04.220 mathematical and historical data provided to 00:08:04.220 --> 00:08:07.060 us. We are looking at the math, the dates and 00:08:07.060 --> 00:08:09.540 the records. We are absolutely not endorsing 00:08:09.540 --> 00:08:12.100 one political party over another. It is just 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:14.740 objectively fascinating to observe the. and the 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.000 historical weight behind a streak like this. 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:20.199 Exactly. Our role here is to look at the historical 00:08:20.199 --> 00:08:23.420 timeline, and the timeline shows a distinct partisan 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.759 dominance that has lasted for decades. When you 00:08:26.759 --> 00:08:28.620 consider that a Republican hasn't been elected 00:08:28.620 --> 00:08:31.680 to the U .S. Senate from Hawaii since 1970, you 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:34.789 are looking at over half a century of... unbroken 00:08:34.789 --> 00:08:37.490 party representation. Half a century. That is 00:08:37.490 --> 00:08:40.509 a massive streak purely from a statistical standpoint 00:08:40.509 --> 00:08:43.950 is a level of predictability that campaign managers 00:08:43.950 --> 00:08:46.649 in other states can only dream of. So let's break 00:08:46.649 --> 00:08:48.570 down the history of these two specific seats 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:50.330 to see how that played out, because the U .S. 00:08:50.350 --> 00:08:52.350 Senate divides its seats into different classes 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:54.730 to stagger the election. So not everyone is running 00:08:54.730 --> 00:08:57.769 at the same time. Hawaii elects senators to class 00:08:57.769 --> 00:09:00.049 one and class three. Let's look at class three 00:09:00.049 --> 00:09:02.330 first. Remember, this is the seat that has only 00:09:02.330 --> 00:09:04.789 ever been held by Democrats. It started with 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:08.029 Orny Long. He served briefly from 1959 to 1963. 00:09:08.840 --> 00:09:11.480 After he retired, Daniel Inusi was elected. And 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.899 Inusi served from January 3, 1963, all the way 00:09:14.899 --> 00:09:18.019 until December 17, 2012. And we really need to 00:09:18.019 --> 00:09:20.059 pause on Daniel Inusi for a moment to let that 00:09:20.059 --> 00:09:24.139 sink in. From 1963 to 2012, he is Hawaii's longest 00:09:24.139 --> 00:09:26.779 serving senator. And when you do the math on 00:09:26.779 --> 00:09:29.539 those dates, that is an astonishing 49 years 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:32.419 in office. Nearly half a century in a single 00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:35.460 Senate seat. That incredible tenure. perfectly 00:09:35.460 --> 00:09:37.460 illustrates that incumbency fortress we were 00:09:37.460 --> 00:09:40.379 just talking about. 49 years. That means there 00:09:40.379 --> 00:09:42.779 were voters casting ballots for him who hadn't 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:44.860 even been born when he first took office. This 00:09:44.860 --> 00:09:47.539 is incredible. That is wild. And then following 00:09:47.539 --> 00:09:49.600 Inouye's passing, we have Brian Schatz, who is 00:09:49.600 --> 00:09:51.879 currently in the seat. He took office in 2012 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:54.559 and is still serving today with his next election 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:57.159 coming up in 2028. So that is the complete history 00:09:57.159 --> 00:10:00.799 of Class 3. Long, inary shots. Just three guys 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.159 over 60 plus years. It really highlights the 00:10:03.159 --> 00:10:05.419 bottleneck effect we mentioned earlier. Now, 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.419 let's contrast that with class one. This is the 00:10:07.419 --> 00:10:10.279 seat that Hiram Fong, our sole Republican, held 00:10:10.279 --> 00:10:13.960 from 1959 to 1977. Right. After Fong retired, 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:17.820 Spark Matsunaga, a Democrat, took over from 1977 00:10:17.820 --> 00:10:20.879 until he passed away in 1990. Then Daniel Akaka 00:10:20.879 --> 00:10:23.039 was appointed and subsequently elected, serving 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:26.460 from 1990 until his retirement in 2013. And finally, 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:30.139 Mezi Hirono was elected, serving from 2013 to 00:10:30.139 --> 00:10:32.580 the present day, with her next election set for 00:10:32.580 --> 00:10:35.940 2030. Exactly. And if you look closely at that 00:10:35.940 --> 00:10:38.679 specific lineage for the class one seat Fong, 00:10:38.759 --> 00:10:42.600 Matsunaga, Akaka, Hirono, there is an incredibly 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.759 unique demographic fact hidden right there in 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:48.200 the lineage. There is. The class one seat in 00:10:48.200 --> 00:10:51.110 Hawaii is... is the only Senate seat in the entire 00:10:51.110 --> 00:10:53.690 United States that has always been held by an 00:10:53.690 --> 00:10:56.490 ethnic minority. Never once in its history has 00:10:56.490 --> 00:10:58.990 it been held by anyone else. If we connect this 00:10:58.990 --> 00:11:01.330 to the bigger picture, it says something profound 00:11:01.330 --> 00:11:03.750 about representation and the demographic identity 00:11:03.750 --> 00:11:05.950 of Hawaii on the federal stage. Yeah, absolutely. 00:11:06.230 --> 00:11:08.590 When you have a seat that since the very day 00:11:08.590 --> 00:11:11.350 the state was admitted to the union in 1959 has 00:11:11.350 --> 00:11:13.649 exclusively elevated minority voices to one of 00:11:13.649 --> 00:11:15.470 the highest legislative bodies in the country, 00:11:15.610 --> 00:11:18.029 it establishes a historic benchmark. Definitely. 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:20.500 It is an unbroken record of minority representation 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:23.240 that literally no other Senate seat in the country 00:11:23.240 --> 00:11:25.639 can claim. It highlights how the unique cultural 00:11:25.639 --> 00:11:28.500 and demographic makeup of Hawaii translates directly 00:11:28.500 --> 00:11:31.039 into its electoral outcomes and its distinct 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:34.179 voice in Washington, D .C. It is truly a remarkable 00:11:34.179 --> 00:11:36.799 piece of history. So let's recap what we've uncovered 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:40.289 so far. We've got this. impenetrable fortress 00:11:40.289 --> 00:11:43.850 of incumbency, an unbroken streak of democratic 00:11:43.850 --> 00:11:47.409 representation since the 70s, and a class one 00:11:47.409 --> 00:11:50.110 seat that has always been held by an ethnic minority. 00:11:50.309 --> 00:11:53.409 That's right. So what does this all mean for 00:11:53.409 --> 00:11:56.250 the current delegation? Let's bring our focus 00:11:56.250 --> 00:11:58.789 to the two people holding those seats right now, 00:11:59.429 --> 00:12:02.220 Brian Schatz and Maisie Hirono. This is where 00:12:02.220 --> 00:12:04.259 we get into some really fascinating procedural 00:12:04.259 --> 00:12:06.700 quirks of the U .S. Senate. I love this part. 00:12:06.820 --> 00:12:08.879 In the Senate, there is always a senior senator 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:11.320 and a junior senator from each state. Now, this 00:12:11.320 --> 00:12:13.899 isn't based on age. It is based entirely on their 00:12:13.899 --> 00:12:15.840 length of continuous service in the chamber. 00:12:16.269 --> 00:12:18.889 It usually follows a certain logic, though. The 00:12:18.889 --> 00:12:21.269 person who has been in the Senate longer is generally 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:23.570 older in age, having had more time to build a 00:12:23.570 --> 00:12:25.649 long political career before arriving in Washington. 00:12:26.110 --> 00:12:28.529 But that is not always the case. Right. And there 00:12:28.529 --> 00:12:30.610 is this incredibly fun piece of trivia here. 00:12:31.149 --> 00:12:34.409 Hawaii is one of only 14 states to have a younger 00:12:34.409 --> 00:12:37.389 senior senator and an older junior senator. It's 00:12:37.389 --> 00:12:39.759 a very specific club. Let me actually list those 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:41.940 out for flavor because it's so quirky. The states 00:12:41.940 --> 00:12:45.740 are California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:48.799 Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:52.080 Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Utah, and of course, 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:54.860 Hawaii. Right. So in Hawaii, Brian Schatz is 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:56.759 the senior senator, despite being younger in 00:12:56.759 --> 00:12:59.360 age, and Mazie Hirono is the junior senator, 00:12:59.500 --> 00:13:01.720 despite being older. This raises an important 00:13:01.720 --> 00:13:05.539 question. Exactly why did this age quirk happen 00:13:05.539 --> 00:13:08.590 in Hawaii? because the timeline spells it out 00:13:08.590 --> 00:13:10.889 day by day, and it all comes down to a razor 00:13:10.889 --> 00:13:13.230 -thin margin of just over a week. Just over a 00:13:13.230 --> 00:13:15.110 week. Let's walk through the exact sequence of 00:13:15.110 --> 00:13:18.269 events at the very end of 2012. As we discussed, 00:13:18.649 --> 00:13:20.809 Daniel Newey was the longest -serving senator 00:13:20.809 --> 00:13:24.000 holding that Class 3 seat. He tragically died 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:27.220 in office on December 17th, 2012. OK, so suddenly 00:13:27.220 --> 00:13:29.860 there is a totally unexpected vacancy in a state 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:32.679 that almost never, ever has vacancies. Exactly. 00:13:32.740 --> 00:13:35.620 For nine days from December 17 to December 26, 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:37.919 the seat was officially vacant. Then on December 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:41.019 26, 2012, Brian Schatz was officially appointed 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:43.440 by the governor to continue Inouye's term. Got 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:45.879 it. So Schatz's clock of continuous service in 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:48.340 the Senate officially started ticking on that 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:51.440 exact date. December 26. OK, I want you to hold 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:54.639 that date in your mind. December 26, 2012. Meanwhile, 00:13:54.779 --> 00:13:57.220 over in the class one seat, Daniel Akaka had 00:13:57.220 --> 00:13:59.960 already decided to retire. His term was legally 00:13:59.960 --> 00:14:03.139 scheduled to end on January 3, 2013. Right. The 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.320 voters had already held the 2012 general election 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:07.740 to pick his successor, and Maisie Hirono had 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.519 won that election. But even though she won, her 00:14:10.519 --> 00:14:13.039 term did not legally begin until the new Congress 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.279 convened on January 3, 2013. So look at the board. 00:14:16.919 --> 00:14:18.860 You have Brian Schatz, who was appointed to an 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:21.639 empty seat on December 26th. And you have Maisie 00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:24.179 Hirono, who took office for her new term on January 00:14:24.179 --> 00:14:27.299 3rd. That is a difference of exactly eight days. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.860 Eight days. Because Schatz was appointed to fill 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:32.340 a sudden vacancy just eight days before Hirono's 00:14:32.340 --> 00:14:35.399 regularly scheduled term began, he secured permanent 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:38.480 seniority over her. Those eight extra days give 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.379 the younger Schatz the title of senior senator 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:42.940 over the older Hirono. It is amazing how a margin 00:14:42.940 --> 00:14:45.559 of just eight days in late December of 2012 set 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:47.639 the entire hierarchy for the state's federal 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:49.980 representation for more than a decade and counting. 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.039 It really is. And, you know, in the U .S. Senate, 00:14:52.159 --> 00:14:54.320 seniority is everything. It's how you get the 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.320 best committee assignments, the most funding, 00:14:56.399 --> 00:14:59.980 the best office space. So by keeping their senators 00:14:59.980 --> 00:15:02.840 in office for life and having these quirky appointment 00:15:02.840 --> 00:15:08.559 timelines, system to maximize its power in Washington? 00:15:08.820 --> 00:15:11.299 They absolutely have. It is these tiny granular 00:15:11.299 --> 00:15:13.980 details, these little quirks of timing that make 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:17.340 reading a timeline like this so rewarding. You 00:15:17.340 --> 00:15:19.220 start with a simple list of names and dates, 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:22.980 and you uncover a massive story of timing, appointments, 00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:25.320 and permanent seniority. It really is a perfect 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:27.500 synthesis of everything we've discussed today. 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:30.519 We set out to find the aha moments in what initially 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:33.600 appeared to be a standard Wikipedia table. And 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:35.179 we found a lot. And what did we actually find? 00:15:35.299 --> 00:15:38.120 We found a fortress of incumbency where an incumbent 00:15:38.120 --> 00:15:40.539 senator has literally never been defeated in 00:15:40.539 --> 00:15:43.600 a primary or general election. We found an unmatched 00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:46.470 partisan streak. With the state holding the longest 00:15:46.470 --> 00:15:48.830 active record for an all -democratic delegation, 00:15:49.230 --> 00:15:52.889 dating all the way back to 1970, we found historic 00:15:52.889 --> 00:15:55.830 demographic representation, with the class one 00:15:55.830 --> 00:15:58.169 seat being the only one in the nation to always 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:01.250 be held by an ethnic minority. And we found a 00:16:01.250 --> 00:16:04.409 highly exclusive club of only seven people, capped 00:16:04.409 --> 00:16:07.370 off by an eight -day seniority quirk that defined 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:09.250 the power dynamic of the current delegation. 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:12.779 It is truly a masterclass in how much you can 00:16:12.779 --> 00:16:14.740 learn just by paying attention to the details 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.139 and asking the right questions. We want to thank 00:16:17.139 --> 00:16:19.000 you so much for coming along on this exploration 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:21.259 with us today. Definitely. We really hope this 00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.740 deep dive provided you with a satisfying aha 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:26.259 moment and proved that even the most seemingly 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:28.580 straightforward data can be packed with surprises 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:31.679 without overwhelming you with information overload. 00:16:32.490 --> 00:16:34.649 You stuck with us through the dates, the streaks 00:16:34.649 --> 00:16:36.450 and the math, and we hope you feel a little more 00:16:36.450 --> 00:16:38.110 well -informed about the fascinating political 00:16:38.110 --> 00:16:41.309 anomalies of the Aloha State. But before we sign 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:44.649 off, I want to leave you with one final lingering 00:16:44.649 --> 00:16:47.970 thought to mull over something that builds directly 00:16:47.970 --> 00:16:50.289 on the data we've explored today. Okay, let's 00:16:50.289 --> 00:16:53.990 hear it. If Hawaii is truly the only U .S. state 00:16:53.990 --> 00:16:56.990 that has literally never defeated an incumbent 00:16:56.990 --> 00:17:00.590 senator in a primary or general election, What 00:17:00.590 --> 00:17:02.809 does that actually mean for an ambitious up and 00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:06.410 coming politician in the state? Oh, wow. If you 00:17:06.410 --> 00:17:09.470 are a young leader with fresh ideas, do you simply 00:17:09.470 --> 00:17:11.690 have to wait for a decades long incumbent to 00:17:11.690 --> 00:17:14.809 retire or pass away? before you even have a statistical 00:17:14.809 --> 00:17:16.950 chance of serving your state in the Senate. That 00:17:16.950 --> 00:17:19.650 is such a fascinating paradox to leave them with. 00:17:19.710 --> 00:17:22.349 It is the ultimate double -edged sword. You have 00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:24.829 an incredible system of absolute stability and 00:17:24.829 --> 00:17:27.210 unmatched federal seniority that really benefits 00:17:27.210 --> 00:17:29.990 the state, but at the exact same time, it creates 00:17:29.990 --> 00:17:33.009 a massive potential bottleneck for new voices 00:17:33.009 --> 00:17:35.970 and new leadership. It really does. It is definitely 00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:37.970 something to think about next time you look at 00:17:37.970 --> 00:17:40.789 a ballot. Thank you again for joining us for 00:17:40.789 --> 00:17:43.109 this deep dive. Keep asking questions, keep looking 00:17:43.109 --> 00:17:45.730 closely at the data, and keep digging into the 00:17:45.730 --> 00:17:48.569 hidden stories behind everyday information. We 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:49.410 will catch you next time.