Posted on 01/19/2006 5:12:36 PM PST by LdSentinal
HONOLULU -- Hawaii Rep. Ed Case is expected to run against fellow Democrat Sen. Dan Akaka this fall, according to sources.
Case telephoned Akaka earlier in the day to inform the senator of his decision, sources said.
"Our Hawaii has been served ably and with great distinction by generations of U.S. Senators, including Sen. Daniel Akaka. Like all of our Hawaii, I have the deepest aloha for Sen. Akaka and truly honor his decades of selfless service. But we all know that we are in a time of transition our Hawaii's representation in Congress and especially in the Senate. "This transition requires that we phase in the next generation to provide continuity in that service."
If both senators were to leave office at the same time he said, "we don't want to have all of 'their accumulated seniority over night." Which would leave Hawaii "vulnerable while we build it anew from scratch."
Case, 53, is halfway through his second term in Congress. He won a special election to the House when the late Rep. Patsy Mink died. Case was a state legislator and made an unsuccessful bid for governor. He lost to former Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in the primary.
Akaka, 81, has been in the Senate since 1990 when he was appointed to replace Sen. Sparky Matsunaga, who died while in office. He had been in the House from 1976.
Both politicians face re-election this year. That means the Democrats will not have an incumbent running for the House seat that covers rural Oahu and the neighbor islands.
Akaka full of kaka?
There's a power play for ya.
A Democrat primarying Akaka?
If there is blood in the water I hope the GOP has someone to jump in the pool.
I've been wondering if General Shinseki will seek a senate seat to replace Inouye if he retires.
Akaka, if he runs again, will squash him. It opens up a nice house seat for Lt. Governor Aiona Jr. to pick up.
This guy has more ambition than brains. A senate seat is bound to open up eventually. Now, he'll lose in the primary and be persona non grata in party politics.
Ed Case is related to AOL founder Steve Case, so he'll have plenty of money if he chooses to run. And also, he's never been an ally of Dan Inouye & his machine, but that never stopped him from winning in the past.
Also remember, Daniel Akaka turns 83 y/o this year.
The most obvious possibility would be popular Governor Linda Lingle. Longtime state Representative Barbara Marumoto could also run.
Case is an ambitious white Democrat Congressman who finished second in the RAT gubernatorial primary in 2002, and he's taking a calculated gamble in declaring his candidacy against Akaka. Akaka has never been considered the sharpest tool in the shed, and at 81 he might not make it through his next term and perhaps have GOP Governor Linda Lingle name his replacement. Case jumping in now allows him to have a leg up if Akaka chooses to forgo reelection.
I can think of two good things about Case running against Akaka: (1) He won't be running against Governor Lingle, taking away the Democrats' strongest potential challenger, and (2) if Case wins this Senate seat, and perhaps also if he loses and becomes a pariah, he will not be able to run for the Senate in 2010 when Inouye will almost certainly retire (and when Governor Lingle will hopefully be finishing her second term and run for the open Senate seat).
The Senate race may be more winnable for us than would Case's 2nd CD, since Case's district is 3% more Democrat than Abercrombie's 1st CD. I don't know who would be our best candidate in the 2nd CD, but the three most populated counties/islands in the district (which comprises all of Hawaii outside of Oahu and a bit of Oahu as well) have Republican mayors: http://www.gophawaii.com/county-mayors.htm
It should be noted, though, that Big Island Mayor Harry Kim is being wooed by the Democrats to run for Governor, and has indicated interest, so we can probably scratch him off the list. http://www.draftharrykim.com/
Our best Senate candidate would probably be Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, who is a former judge and a Native Hawaiian. http://www.hawaii.gov/ltgov/ltgov/ltgov/biography.html
But I assume that Aiona would rather run for reelection and thus set up a gubernatorial run in 2010 (perhaps becoming governor earlier if Lingle resigns early to run for the Senate full-time that year). If Aiona doesn't run, I don't know who else has the name ID and profile for a statewide run against either Akaka or Case. Maybe former Congresswoman Pat Saiki can make a comeback---she lost to Senator Akaka in 1994 and to Governor Cayetano in 1994, but perhaps the third time will be the charm.
I think Case's bid for aKAKA's seat is a preemptive strike. Neil "Old Hippie" BLABERcrombie appeared to be the heir apparent to aKAKA's seat. OLDFRIEND mentioned Shinseki. Quite possibly Shinseiki for Inouye's seat soon though Shinseike has been absent from local politics.
The demographics in Hawaii has changed considerably in the last 10 years. Dimocraps cannot find a good candidate to run against Republican Linda Lingle for Governor. However, the public sector unions are flush with money and control the state and local politics. This is going to be interesting.
It would be foolish for Governor Lingle to run for the Senate instead of for reelection. If she can win reelection, and so far the Democrats haven't found anyone willing to take her on, she'd have an excellent chance of winning an open Senate seat in 2010 (when Inouye will almost certainly retire).
Ohio has two eighty something Senators. With a popular Republican Governor very likely to be relected this year. You do not have to be a genius to figure out that thier will be 1-2 Senate seats being filled with Republican apointees in a state that almost alway votes to relect incumbents. This does add complexity to the situation but hopefuly Akaka will prevail.
I think you meant Hawaii, not Ohio. The part about the "popular Republican Governor" gave it away. : )
Pat Saiki, who turns 76 in May, is only 6 years younger than Akaka & Inouye, so I'd be very skeptical about her running at such an advanced age. She last ran for office 12 years ago for Governor, but was sabotaged by Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi, splitting the GOP vote in the general and allowing the horrid Ben Cayetano to win with only 37%.
I think we should look to a younger generation of Hawaiian Republicans to run for office.
Duke Aiona would be the best-known person to run for Case's district, but he might not be intereted. Gov. Linda Lingle would certainly come under pressure to run.
In an unrelated developement, GOP Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou is thinking of running against Congressman Neil Abercrombie.
"Ohio has two eighty something Senators"
Having "a popular Governor in Ohio" sure did give it away. I wonder how I muffed that one. Obviously, I did indeed mean Hawaii.
Don't worry, in a year from now, Ohio will have a popular Governor again. ;-)
It would ne nice to have an Asian-American Republican back in Congress again. The last one was Jay Kim from CA, and he, sadly, wasn't exactly an all-star. :-(
Good observation. And the last Asian-American Republican to serve in the Senate was one-term Senator Sam Hayakawa .
The only Republican to ever be elected Senator in Hawaii was RINO Hiram Fong, who was a Chinese-American.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.