×

Political forecast murky but active

In an unsurprising move, Charles Djou announced Thursday he will try to win back the 1st Congressional District U.S. House of Representatives seat he once held on an interim basis.

Republican Djou won the seat in a special election after Neil Abercrombie resigned from Congress to run for governor of Hawaii in 2010. Colleen Hanabusa defeated Djou in the general election that fall. She was re-elected two years later, again defeating Djou.

Hanabusa, of course, is running against incumbent Brian Schatz for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate this year. That will eliminate Djou’s biggest obstacle to regaining the seat he once held – several lesser-known Democrats are vying for their party’s nomination.

At this point, Djou is uncontested for the Republican nomination.

Meanwhile, the race for governor is, well, murky. James “Duke” Aiona seemingly announced on a Christian radio station in January that he will seek the Republican nomination, but he has been keeping a low profile since. He does have a website (dukeaiona.com) that says it will be the information hub of the campaign.

But there’s no information up there except the announcement of a fundraiser on April 5.

Former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is apparently still considering a run for governor as the Hawaii Independent Party candidate.

Gov. Abercrombie’s intraparty rival, Sen. David Ige, and his colleagues in the state Legislature are busy cutting the governor’s budget proposals.

Ige has said that without the Legislature cutting items, the governor’s pride – an $800 million surplus – wouldn’t exist.

So far, Ige’s challenge to Abercrombie and Hanabusa’s battle against Schatz make the Aug. 9 primary election the political story of 2014.

* Editorials reflect the opinion of the publisher.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper?
     
Support Local Journalism on Maui

Only $99/year

Subscribe Today