Democratic Congressman Neil Abercrombie is resigning from Congress in order to compete more effectively in the race for governor in Hawaii against Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann.
This is a reversal of an earlier decision, and it sounds like Senator Daniel Inouye, the dominant figure in Hawaii Democratic politics for nearly 50 years, is miffed.
Republican Governor Linda Lingle can call a special election and, since it was apparent that this was going to be an open seat, there are three candidates already running. Two are Democrats, former Congressman Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, and one is a Republican, Honolulu Councilman Charles Djou.
Under Hawaii law, the candidates would all run in the same contest and the one with the most votes wins—which might give Djou a chance in a district which Barack Obama (who was born and grew up there) carried 70%-28%.
