1st District Voters Send Djou to Congress
05/22/2010
Chad Blair/Civil Beat
Republican Charles Djou, a Honolulu City Councilman, was elected to the U.S. Congress Saturday night in a special election. He defeated two well-known Democrats, former Congressman Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.
Final results from the State Elections Office showed Djou had received 67,610 votes, or 39.4 percent of the total votes. Hanabusa finished second with 52,802 votes, or 30.8 percent, while Case finished third, with 47,391 votes, or 27.6 percent.
Djou is expected to be sworn in and to begin serving in Washington early next week. But his time in office may be short-lived.
To win a full two-year term beginning in early 2011, Djou will have to prevail in two more elections this year. The first, the Sept. 18 Republican primary, should be a snap. But the Nov. 2 general election, against a single Democratic opponent — likely Hanabusa or Case — will almost certainly be much tougher.
Fourteen candidates ran for the seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Neil Abercrombie when he resigned in February to run for governor after 20 years in Washington. The 1st Congressional District is essentially urban Oahu, primarily Honolulu.
The winner-take-all contest required only a plurality of the vote. Djou, Case and Hanabusa were the clear front-runners by virtue of their experience in office, but the two Democrats effectively split the party's vote, handing the race to the Republican.
"This is a momentous day!" Djou told supporters. "We have sent a message to the United States Congress, to the ex-governors, to the national Democrats, to the machine! We have sent a message!"
