Adriel Lam

Lam describes his family's history in Hawaii as spanning generations, including a great-grandfather who arrived in 1872 and a grandfather who worked at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard on the day of the 1941 attack. He names a newspaper route for the South Pasadena Journal as his first job, and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser's election guide describes him as a fourth-generation Hawaii resident.[4][5] He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington (1993). Ballotpedia lists graduate degrees from Missouri University of Science and Technology (2000), Tarleton State University (2000), the University of Hawaii (2005), and Wayland Baptist University (2024).[3]

Lam served in the U.S. Army from 1994 to 2018, which he describes as nearly 24 years of active duty, including leading small teams and combat units and enterprise-wide efforts with inter-agency and international partners. The Star-Advertiser's guide, which lists him as 55 and retired, names his previous jobs as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division, U.S. Army Pacific, and a military liaison role at the U.S. Embassy Kabul.[4][3][5] The guide also lists prior service as vice chair of the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board and vice chair of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization. As of 2024, Ballotpedia listed him as a member of organizations including VFW Post 110, the MIS Veterans of Hawaii, the Lions Club of Kaneohe, and the Hawaii Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.[3][5]

Lam ran for the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2024, receiving 16.5 percent of the vote and finishing second to Bob McDermott. In 2026 he ran unopposed in the August 8 Republican primary for the 1st District.[3][2] During the campaign, he said he was running on government accountability, election security, and Hawaii's strategic role in the Pacific.[2][4][3] He received 22.9% of the vote to Ed Case's 71.8%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]