Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie made it pretty clear last December that he no longer had any ambitions in Washington, but he’ll soon be making it official. From the Politico:
Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) will be stepping down from Congress at the end of his term to run for governor, according to a source close to the congressman.
Abercrombie will be making his announcement official this weekend with a video to supporters announcing his gubernatorial intentions.
Republicans have a hyped recruit for this race in Honolulu City Councilor Charles Djou, and are quick to point to Bush’s strong 47% showing in this district in 2004 as evidence that an open seat battle could get hot. But Djou will face long odds in a district that delivered 70% of its vote to Obama last November (according to SSP’s Prez-by-CD project) and where Republicans are dwindling in number further down the ballot.
So who will run on the Democratic side? The Politico has a few ideas:
On the Democratic side, former state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman, state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and former state Rep. Brian Schatz have all been mentioned as candidates.
Roll Call also mentions former Rep. Ed Case as a possible candidate. Barf.
I don’t blame him for not wanting to be in Congress anymore. But it’s surprising, because we finally have a Dem President and Dem Congress, this is the moment long-time Congress Dems have been waiting for.
He could be one in 435 in icky DC, or top dog in Hawaii.
I don’t see there being any comparison. It’s the end of his career, so why not go out on top, literally.
will be a strong candidate. If he can get Hannabusa on as LG he should be able to handle Hanneman, they share the same base. Even better perhaps Hanneman can be convinced to run for Abercrombie’s house seat.
He’s old, but in extremely good shape. He can, or could at least, weightlift 200 pounds plus his age, for example when he was 67 he benched 267 pounds. He stays fit, is mentally sharp and a good speaker from what I’ve seen of him. Attacks that he’s too old won’t stick, and the washington thing is double edged. He may not be close to Haiwai politics, but he has experience and connections in washington that will be used to helpthe state.
I really didn’t think he was going to do it. This is actually quite a surprise to me. He may just clear the field, and will easily beat Duke Aiona (R) in the fall.
As far as replacing him in Congress…Caldwell accidentally resigned when he tried to run for an open city council seat but missed the deadline, he’s desperate to get back in to politics. Hannemann is in the middle of a term but has had federal ambitions for a while. Colleen Hanabusa represents an area in HI-02 (in fact she ran for it when Rep. Case retired in 2006), so it would seem odd for her to try to force her way into HI-01. Brian Schatz was just chosen as Hawaii Democratic party chair and I think he’s happy where he is.
I’m sure some other city council members will try for it, perhaps Nestor Garcia and freshly elected Duke Bainum. The seat is safe though. Bush’s performance was a kind of high water mark, the district is unwinnable by a Republican who isn’t named Lingle.