1959 United States Senate elections in Hawaii

The 1959 United States Senate elections in Hawaii were held July 28, 1959. Following the admission of Hawaii as the 50th State in the union, the state held 2 simultaneous elections to determine its first senators.

The elections were split between the Republican and Democratic parties. The new senators took office on August 21. Oren E. Long was given seniority based on his service as Governor of Hawaii. Hiram Fong became the first Asian-American U.S. senator and the first Senator to be born outside of the contiguous United States.

Class 1

1959 class 1 Senate election

Nominee Hiram Fong Frank Fasi Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 87,161 77,647 Percentage 52.89% 47.11%

Fong:      50–60%      60–70%

Elected U.S. senator Hiram Fong Republican

This election was for the class 1 term expiring in 1965. It was won by Republican Hiram Fong.

General election

Candidates

• Frank Fasi, Territorial Senator (Democratic)
• Hiram Fong, former member of the Territorial Legislature (Republican)

Results

1959 United States Senate election in Hawaii (class 1)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Hiram Fong	87,161	52.89%
	Democratic	Frank Fasi	77,647	47.11%
Total votes			164,808	100.00%

Class 3

1959 class 3 Senate election

Nominee Oren Long Wilfred Tsukiyama Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 83,700 79,123 Percentage 51.08% 48.28%

Long:      50–60% Tsukiyama:      40–50%      50–60%

Elected U.S. senator Oren Long Democratic

This election was for the Class 3 term expiring in 1963. It was won by Democrat Oren Long, who started an as-of-yet uninterrupted streak of Democratic victories in the Class 3 Senate seat in Hawaii. As of 2022, Tsukiyama's loss by a 2.8 point margin is the closest Republicans have come to winning this seat.

General election

Candidates

• Oren Long, former territorial Governor of Hawaii (Democratic)
• Eugene Ressencourt (Commonwealth)
• Wilfred Tsukiyama, former President of the Territorial Senate (Republican)

Results

1959 United States Senate election in Hawaii (class 3)

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Oren Long	83,700	51.08%
	Republican	Wilfred Tsukiyama	79,123	48.28%
	Commonwealth	Eugene G. Ressencourt	1,052	0.64%
Total votes			163,875	100.00%

Following Long's victory, Governor William F. Quinn appointed Tsukiyama to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

See also

• 1959 Hawaii gubernatorial election
• 1959 United States House of Representatives election in Hawaii
• 1959 Hawaii Senate election