In the race
May 19th, 2011
By B.J. Reyes
By B.J. Reyes
U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono announced today her intent to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated in 2012 by U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka.
Her announcement to supporters on her website:
Hirono matches up favorably other potential candidates, as evidenced in the recent Hawaii Poll conducted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now.
Posted in In Politics | 5 Comments »
Political Radar
May 19th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Well, this certainly opens a lot of things up.
Some quick, half-baked predictions: after some delay, mostly spent hoping Mazie’s campaign does not catch on, Hanabusa announces she is running for re-election to her House seat. Case remains in Senate race. Mufi considers running for Second CD seat, but opts to stay in Senate race instead.
Brian Schatz is harder to figure. During the LG race, he made a major point that his strength is in an executive position, not legislative. OTOH, how often does a Senate seat open up. And he would not have to risk the LG seat by running for either the Senate or Congress. I doubt he would seek the 2nd CD House seat. But should Hanabusa run for the Senate, could he resist the First CD race? Probably depends on Mufi’s plans.
Gary Hooser has a leg up on the Second CD seat. He has run before and has build up a statewide network of supporters due to his profile on environmental issues and the teacher furloughs scandal. (Yeah, I call it a scandal that we could have furloughed the teachers and kicked the kids out of school). Hooser is probably the highest profile potential candidate who actually resides in the Second CD, unless someone like Shan Tsutsui were to jump in. (Save your Billy Kenoi fervor, folks. He has too much baggage and has to build up a more mature image before he is ready for statewide acceptance.)
On the GOP side, would Djou move back to the Second CD if that’s where the opening is? If Lingle does not run for the Senate, Djou would be foolish to try for it himself. Unless the expected flood of mainland Republican money is able to overcome all the obstacles he will face.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:06 pm
She will still be junior and not have as much influence as Senator Akaka. She will have to start from the bottom and work her way up, if elected.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:17 pm
OK, it’s happy hour and I have been consulting my sources.the insider consensus is that Mufi will run for Mazie’s congressional seat, leaving the the Democratic Senate field to Mazie versus Ed Case.
Further, Lingle IS going to run for the Senate and Djou is running against Hanabusa, which explains Republican attempts within the Reapportionment Commission to dramatically alter the historical congressional lines and gerrymnder a district to help increase Djou’s chances.
Pau. I need to get back to my drink.
May 19th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Wake up Hawaii! Do NOT vote for Hirono. She has done absolutely NOTHING — zip, zero, nada — for Hawaii.
As Dave Shapiro pointed out a few days ago in the SA: “Hirono won the U.S. House seat that Case vacated in 2006 and, as with her stint as lieutenant governor, has maintained near invisibility except for the occasional news release assuring voters that she’s “fighting” for us. The ultralow profile keeps her free of controversy.”
I live in the Second Congressional District so Hirono supposedly represents me. In January, I wrote her a letter pointing out some serious problems with the TSA operations at Honolulu International Airport. (This wasn’t about being “patted down” or scanned, by the way.) Here it is over four months later and Hirono hasn’t had the simple courtesy — can you say “Aloha”? — to send me a reply. Is this the kind of “representative” we want or need in our nation’s capital? I, for one, don’t!
Hawaii, we deserve better than the likes of Lazy Mazie Hirono! As the saying goes: “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!” Auwe!
May 19th, 2011 at 10:05 pm
It is going to be very interesting to see how the Case/Hirono/Lingle re-run plays out.
Case… experience and a misstep politically in 2006
Hirono… experience and has been quiet as a mouse… offending no one… impressing few
Lingle… super polished for many years then varnished in her final couple of years
Expect the national folks to insinuate themselves, spend millions… be very negative…
Let’s pick the right person based on merit and positives, not what is shoved down our throats by the pundits…