Circulating survey that seeks input on imaginary Gabbard-Hirono contest raises eyebrows

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Pearl City resident and voter Benjamin White got a text message Thursday this morning from SurveyMonkey on the 2024 Hawaii Senate race.

The survey in the link asked: “If the general election for Senate were held today would you vote for Democrat Mazie Hirono or independent Tulsi Gabbard?”

Another question asked: “If the general election were held today, would you vote for Democrat Mazie Hirono, independent Tulsi Gabbard, or a Republican candidate?”

“It kind of surprised me because Tulsi Gabbard has been kind of quiet for a while,” said White.

Hirono’s campaign said they didn’t send out the survey.

“She is running for reelection so Hawaii can continue to have a people’s senator who’s always on their side,” added Hirono’s spokesperson George Flynn.

Gabbard’s spokesperson also dismissed the survey.

“Gabbard doesn’t know anything about the poll. She has no plans to run for the U.S. Senate,” said Gabbard’s spokesperson Erika Tsuji.

Gabbard, a former congresswoman and presidential candidate, left the Democratic party and is now a commentator on Fox News.

But HNN political analyst Colin Moore wouldn’t be surprised if Gabbard was trying to get back into Hawaii politics. If there was a match-up between Hirono and Gabbard, Moore said it would probably be a “blowout.”

“Senator Hirono is an incumbent senator. She’s very popular,” said Moore.

“I suspect if Tulsi Gabbard runs, she would have the support of a lot of PACs,” he added.

White considers himself a moderate voter and says he doesn’t really like Gabbard or Hirono.

“If I had to lean one way, it might be to Gabbard only because Senator Hirono has been around for a while,” said White.

In general, he says he picks candidates on one important factor: “The person that is the least crooked,” he said.

Copyright 2023 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.