General Election Set for U.S. Congress Races
Let the races begin.
The number of candidates hoping to represent Hawaii in Congress was whittled down from 19 to 11 as primary voters picked party nominees in three different contests Saturday.
In the 1st Congressional District, the presumptive frontrunners cruised to victory. Republican Charles Djou secured 93.1 percent of his party’s vote, eliminating C. Kaui Jochanan Amsterdam (1.8 percent) and John “Raghu” Giuffre (0.8 percent), the night’s [pdf] shows. Democrat Colleen Hanabusa topped Rafael “Del” Del Castillo, 70.1 percent to 18.7 percent.
Asked how Republicans would paint her and governor candidate Neil Abercrombie, who stepped down from the seat at stake, Hanabusa said: “I don’t think they’ll try to broad-brush us like you see on the mainland,” she said in a phone interview with Civil Beat. “In Hawaii … people really do look at their candidates and do support the individuals as opposed to voting down party lines.”
Hanabusa was reluctant to say that she had an inside track on the congressional seat.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m confident. I wouldn’t take anything for granted. … The reason I have the luxury of doing what I’m doing is that Ed (Case) was so magnanimous to step aside in the primary, and it’s allowed me to reach out to those who you’d consider his supporters and solidify that base as well.”
Djou also downplayed any advantage he has as the sitting representative in Washington.
“We feel very good but we are by no means overconfident,” he told Civil Beat at the GOP’s event Saturday. “We’re gonna work very, very hard. I understand that every single day I hold this seat in the United States Congress, it is because of the trust the people have placed in me and I need to earn that trust every single day.”
Djou said Abercrombie’s record will hurt, not help, in his fight against Republican governor candidate James “Duke” Aiona.
“I think right now, a lot of what is wrong with our nation is coming out of Washington D.C. and the current majority in Congress has really set our nation on the wrong path and that鈥檚 the majority that Neil has been a part of for the last two decades. So, he’s gonna have to work hard to overcome that,” Djou said.
In the 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Mazie Hirono was unchallenged in her party’s primary. On the Republican side, John W. Willoughby looked to have narrowly edged Ramsay Puanani Wharton by just 229 votes in one of the closest races of the evening. Willoughly’s 35.7 percent was good enough to best Wharton’s 34.7 percent and Antonio Gimbernat’s 5.2 percent.
Libertarian Pat Brock and independent Andrew Vsevolod Von Sonn will also be on the general election ballot for CD2. While Von Sonn failed to secure the 10 percent of all party primary votes required by state law, he moves on by virtue of edging Brock, 308 votes to 143.
Senate President Pro Tempore Daniel K. Inouye will have a chance to run for his 9th term after besting challenger Andy Woerner 82.9 percent to 11 percent in the Democratic primary. He’ll face Republican Cam Cavasso, who secured 50.5 percent of his party’s vote to move past John Roco (16.6 percent) and Eddie Pirkowski (8.6 percent). Libertarian Party nominee Lloyd Jeffrey and Green Party nominee Jim Brewer will also be on the general election ballot, as will nonpartisan hopeful Jeff Jarrett, who got 487 votes, besting both Mallan’s 241 votes and Brewer’s 274.
