While a lot of attention was at the top of the ticket, Hawaii made history electing the first ever mother-son duo at the legislature: Donna Mercado Kim and son Micah Aiu.
HONOLULU (KITV4) -- For decades, State Sen. Donna Mercado Kim (D-Kalihi, Moanalua) has had a post-election routine - sign wave near her alma mater, Farrington High School to thank voters for sending her back to office year after year.
Her son, Micah Po'okela Kim Aiu has often joined her on the campaign trail. He was born in 1989, when his mom was serving on the Honolulu City Council.
A fiery debater like his mom, he went on to become an attorney. But it wasn't until recently he decided to follow his mom's footsteps.
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Aiu decided to run for the open District 32 House seat in the Moanalua area that overlaps with his mom's Senate district.
On election night, it appears Aiu won his race. It's a history-making moment. Aiu and Mercado Kim will become the first mother-son duo to serve in the Hawaii legislature at the same time.
While they're both Democrats, and both represent similar territory, don't expect Micah to always agree with his mom.
"We've been through our fair share of arguments throughout my lifetime and I'm sure that any issues that might come up in the legislature we'll argue about those too," he says.
Mercado Kim says seeing her son have to run for office showed him how much work goes into it, and says she's proud of what he's accomplished.
"I've raised him with certain values and I'm proud of that, and I want him to be a strong individual, that's how I raised him," she says.
It's also a full-circle moment. When Mercado Kim for ran for office in the 80's, there were not many women in politics to begin with, so she says it's a source of pride to not only succeed, but also raise a son following in her footsteps.
"I always remind him of that, you have it so much better. You know you have this roadmap that I went through but when I went through it didn't have any of this stuff so suck it up," she jokes.
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