Monday, December 9, 2024
Hawai'i Free Press

Current Articles | Archives

Saturday, April 3, 2010
Dems Wary Of Hawaii Special Election
By Selected News Articles @ 2:54 AM :: 13450 Views :: Maui County, Education K-12, Energy, Environment, National News, Ethics

from NationalJournal.com

Democrats are growing increasingly nervous about the special House election in Hawaii to replace former Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat who resigned to focus on his campaign for governor.

The anxiety stems from the rules for the special election. Because the top candidate in the May 22 election will fill the remainder of Abercrombie's term, former Rep. Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa might split the Democratic vote and hand the seat to Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou, a favorite of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Indeed, in a recent interview with CongressDaily, Djou joked that he had no plans to attack either of his opponents, because he didn't want either to rise or fall too far in the polls and potentially disrupt the delicate balance that could lead him to victory.

But given that it's Hawaii, a Democratic stronghold and birthplace of President Obama, Democrats say flipping the seat to Republicans would be disastrous as the political cycle intensifies.

"All of the momentum we have now after the healthcare vote might be jeopardized," said one House Democratic operative who has been in a handful of meetings where potential White House involvement in the race has been discussed. "They need to recognize how important this is before it sneaks up on them."

Conventional wisdom might suggest getting behind one candidate, presumably Case because he has already been elected to Congress. But in this case, Democratic strategists said the party establishment and White House are reluctant to get involved because Hawaii Democratic Sens. Daniel Akaka and Daniel Inouye are still angry that Case challenged Akaka in the 2006 primary and referred to their ages as he campaigned.

Case's Web site features a clash with Inouye and a rehash of political decisions made in the last decade by some of the state's most prominent Democrats.

Hanabusa has liabilities, too. She is under fire in the local press for campaigning for pay cuts for state legislators while having taken a pay raise. But at the end of last year, Hanabusa had more cash on hand with $219,000 to Case's $139,000. Djou had $334,000 on hand to start this year.

Case led in the last public poll, but that was nearly three months ago. Privately, Democratic strategists sense a momentum shift for Djou.

"The onus is on the White House. ... Can you imagine how bad it would be messaging-wise if we lost Obama's home district after losing Massachusetts?" one strategist said.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment.

by Erin McPike

http://www.nationaljournal.com/congressdaily/pop_20100401_6266.php

Links

TEXT "follow HawaiiFreePress" to 40404

Register to Vote

2aHawaii

Aloha Pregnancy Care Center

AntiPlanner

Antonio Gramsci Reading List

A Place for Women in Waipio

Ballotpedia Hawaii

Broken Trust

Build More Hawaiian Homes Working Group

Christian Homeschoolers of Hawaii

Cliff Slater's Second Opinion

DVids Hawaii

FIRE

Fix Oahu!

Frontline: The Fixers

Genetic Literacy Project

Grassroot Institute

Habele.org

Hawaii Aquarium Fish Report

Hawaii Aviation Preservation Society

Hawaii Catholic TV

Hawaii Christian Coalition

Hawaii Cigar Association

Hawaii ConCon Info

Hawaii Debt Clock

Hawaii Defense Foundation

Hawaii Family Forum

Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United

Hawaii Farmer's Daughter

Hawaii Federation of Republican Women

Hawaii History Blog

Hawaii Jihadi Trial

Hawaii Legal News

Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance

Hawaii Matters

Hawaii Military History

Hawaii's Partnership for Appropriate & Compassionate Care

Hawaii Public Charter School Network

Hawaii Rifle Association

Hawaii Shippers Council

Hawaii Together

HiFiCo

Hiram Fong Papers

Homeschool Legal Defense Hawaii

Honolulu Navy League

Honolulu Traffic

House Minority Blog

Imua TMT

Inouye-Kwock, NYT 1992

Inside the Nature Conservancy

Inverse Condemnation

July 4 in Hawaii

Land and Power in Hawaii

Lessons in Firearm Education

Lingle Years

Managed Care Matters -- Hawaii

MentalIllnessPolicy.org

Missile Defense Advocacy

MIS Veterans Hawaii

NAMI Hawaii

Natatorium.org

National Parents Org Hawaii

NFIB Hawaii News

NRA-ILA Hawaii

Obookiah

OHA Lies

Opt Out Today

Patients Rights Council Hawaii

Practical Policy Institute of Hawaii

Pritchett Cartoons

Pro-GMO Hawaii

RailRipoff.com

Rental by Owner Awareness Assn

Research Institute for Hawaii USA

Rick Hamada Show

RJ Rummel

School Choice in Hawaii

SenatorFong.com

Talking Tax

Tax Foundation of Hawaii

The Real Hanabusa

Time Out Honolulu

Trustee Akina KWO Columns

Waagey.org

West Maui Taxpayers Association

What Natalie Thinks

Whole Life Hawaii