The three-way race to replace the retiring Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) will continue to give national Democrats headaches, according to one of the two Democratic candidates in the field. State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa (D) says that despite polls showing her trailing campaign could put just enough of a dent into former Rep. Ed Case’s Democratic bid to flip the seat to GOP candidate Charles Djou, she’s staying in through the end of the contest.
The TPM Poll Average for the special shows Djou with 32.3, Case with 32.0 and Hanabusa with 21.8. Whichever candidate gets the most votes among the three will win the seat.
There’s been increasing pressure on Hanabusa by national Democrats to get out of the contest. But at a press conference yesterday, Hanabusa — who has the endorsement of the state’s most powerful Democrat, Sen. Daniel Inouye — said she’s staying in until the bitter end. That means the House race some Republicans are calling the Democrats’ NY-23 will continue to cause worry down at DCCC HQ.
“I don’t know how else to respond but to just say this: I’m in this race until the end, and I’m in this race to win,” she said at the press conference, according to the Honolulu Advertiser.
Hanabusa said “other polls” she has seen show the race to be a “dead heat,” and suggested she can win the three-way race.
The race was prompted when Abercrombie announced he would leave the House to run for Governor.
Voting in the special election (which is conducted entirely by mail) opened last week and ends May 22. Hanbusa, Case and Djou are the top three candidates in a 14-candidate field.
