Hawaii was admitted to the Union on August 21, 1959, and elects U.S. senators to classes 1 and 3. Seven people including only one Republican have served as a U.S. senator from Hawaii. The state's current U.S. senators are Democrats Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono. Hawaii's class 1 seat is the only one in the United States that has always been held by an ethnic minority.[ citation needed ] Its class 3 seat is the only one in the United States that has always been held by a member of the Democratic Party.[ citation needed ] Hawaii is one of fourteen states alongside California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Utah to have a younger senior senator and an older junior senator.[ citation needed ]
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Hawaii last elected a Republican in 1970, which has resulted in the longest streak in the nation for a state's having all-Democratic senators. Daniel K. Inouye was Hawaii's longest-serving senator, from 1963 to 2012.
