Hit by the left cross (while looking for the right jab)

My goodness. I thought I was beyond surprisable, but Mazie Hirono is talking about running for Congress, and I just did NOT see that coming.

Did you? What do you think of the possibilities now, with Mazie (and possibly Matt Matsunaga) and Ed Case and John Waihee, and now Frank Fasi tossing their hats into the ring? This election is going to be more interesting than the one we just had!

I'm all atwitter just thinking it. I haven't been caught this far off-guard by something political in Hawaii since the day Governor Cayetano appointed Earl Anzai his attorney general.

Comments

A bunch of "popular" Democrats are making or planning to make a run for that seat. I think Mazie was mentioned a while back before the election was over.... Also in the running... Ed Case, John Waihee, possibly Matt Matsunaga, Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and Mufi Hanneman.....

GOP side is also getting crowded... Bob McDermott of course already announced and is trying to ride on the 70,000 votes he got in the general... Also on the GOP side... former Senator Whitney Anderson and most recently announced, former mayor Frank Fasi... Bob Hogue is also possible..the field is already fairly crowded, so whoever will win may only need like 15 to 20% of the vote... and in this race party won't mean much as everyone will be on the same ballot in a winner take all election.

Special elections have generally been low-turnout affairs... it was earlier this year when a special election was called to fill the vacancy created in the city council after Andy Mirikitani was sentenced to prison.

For me this special election is somewhat meaningless since I and everyone else living in urban Honolulu will not be eligible to vote in this. The 2nd congressional district only covers rural Oahu and all of the neighbor islands.

The funny thing is that the candidates who run for a congressional seat don't have to live in the district they represent.

The funny thing is that the candidates who run for a congressional seat don't have to live in the district they represent.

So, Mel, this is a different section of law than the one recently modified in the General Election (Constitutional Question 1)?

I just ran into Mufi Hanneman and chatted with him last night at Kahala Zippy's!

I, too, am a little surprised by the Hirono rumor (is it still just rumor?). I guess I was so used to her tangible sense of entitlement to the Governor's seat, I never saw her as a "one-size-fits-all" candidate that, like some of the other names in the running, pretty much run for anything. With her in, I'd love to see the special election turn out to be a rematch between Case and Hirono — and see Case win. But as Mel noted, with so many names and no party affiliation, the votes will be pretty broadly spread.

Didn't Mink's husband file? Or is that only for the second special election, for the next full term?

Sadly, I won't be able to vote in this one either, as I live in about as urban a neighborhood as you can get.

I thought Mr. Mink only filed to run to fill the remaining two months of the current term. If I'm wrong, somebody tell me!

Abercrombie on Island Insights the other night was pretty informative about how the Hawai'i contingent has worked as a team in D.C. I can imagine a Republican getting in there and being dumb enough to try to throw his/her weight around (although if it were Frank it would be amusing as hell) based on belonging to the majority.

Yikes! What a zoo--at least most of the candidates can recycle their yard signs and banners.

>> The funny thing is that the candidates who run for a congressional seat don't have to live in the district they represent.

Ryan asked:

So, Mel, this is a different section of law than the one recently modified in the General Election (Constitutional Question 1)?

Ryan, the residency requirement as pertaining to the just passed constitutional amendment applies only to state legislative candidates (State House / State Senate).

For congressional offices, the law as outlined in the United States Constitution is quite different. From Article 1, Section 2:

"Clause 2: No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. "

This clause does not state any specific county, district residency requirement except for being a resident of the state he/she lives in.

That said, isn't it funny too that a candidate can run in any district regardless of residency, but the voters from outside of the district for which that candidate is running cannot vote?

Which also brings up a funny predicament for urban Honolulu candidates running for the 2nd congressional seat: They cannot vote for themselves!

Wow, I hadn't thought of that. Ha!

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