1884 Hawaiian legislative election

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Legislative elections were held in the Hawaiian Kingdom on 6 February 1884 to choose the 28 members of the House of Representatives. The Independent Party (Kuokoa), formed by wealthy white planters and Native Hawaiian leaders, opposed the government policies of King Kalākaua and his Premier Walter M. Gibson. Gibson’s supporters ran as the National Party (also known as the Government Party). After a close vote, Gibson’s National Party kept a majority in the House, while the Independents grew stronger. Kalākaua, who had become king after Lunalilo, favored a pro-American foreign policy and relied on Gibson, a former Mormon missionary and advocate for Native Hawaiian rights, who became a powerful adviser and was called Kalākaua’s “Minister of Everything” until 1887. In 1883, leaders like Lorrin A. Thurston, Sanford Dole, and William R. Castle formed the Independent Party to oppose Gibson. The election left the National Party in control, though facing a rising, divided Independent opposition.