Hawaii's 86-year-old junior Senator, Dan Akaka, has announced that he won't seek re-election in 2012:
After months of thinking about my political future, I am announcing today that I have decided not to run for re-election in 2012. As many of you can imagine, it was a very difficult decision for me. However, I feel that the end of this Congress is the right time for me to step aside. It has been a great honor and privilege to serve the people of Hawaii. In 2006, the people of Hawaii gave me an opportunity to continue my service in the United States Senate and I fully intend to serve the last two years of my term in office.
Dan Akaka, in his statement, singles out colleague Dan Inouye for particular thanks; I've gotta wonder how much Inouye's recent comments prodding Akaka to get his butt in gear, fundraising-wise, may have helped clarify things for him, as all signs prior to that had been that Akaka was on track to run for re-election. The questions now are: does this make the race more appealing to ex-Gov. Linda Lingle (the only Republican in the state who could make this a competitive race, although her once-sky-high popularity was starting to dwindle when she left office last year), and who all piles into the once-in-a-lifetime Democratic primary? Rep. Mazie Hirono seems like a likely starting point, although we might also see ex-Rep. Ed Case, who lost an ill-advised 2006 primary against Akaka, re-emerge from the woodwork. Former Honolulu mayor and losing 2010 Dem gubernatorial primary candidate Mufi Hannemann also would be high on the list.
