1,769. That’s the number of votes which separated incumbent Senator Brian Schatz from his challenger in the delayed finish of last Saturday’s primary election. There were two precincts in the Puna district of the Big Island which remained unopen last weekend due to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Iselle’s impact on the region.
Senator Schatz prevailed over US Representative Colleen Hanabusa, who fought to delay the makeup primary session for those precincts, saying their residents were still too busy digging out from the storm to come out and vote. I have some sympathy for that point of view, but Circuit Court Judge Greg Nakamura ruled
the court is not supposed to interfere with an ongoing election process, even if it is unconstitutional.” Nakamura said he’s “constrained not to grant injunctive relief.”
It may not be quite over yet, as state law says a candidate,
a political party, or at least 30 voters from any election district can contest the primary before the state Supreme Court within six days. A complaint must show evidence that defects in the election process or voting problems changed the outcome.
It might be difficult to show that the problems changed the outcome, since Schatz was leading by roughly 1,600 votes before Friday’s special session and his lead increased by a couple of hundred votes at the end of the day.
Schatz has to be considered the prohibitive favorite against Republican Cam Cavasso in November, but he didn’t get the mandate he hoped for. This election is for the remaining two years of now-deceased Senator Dan Inouye’s term, so Schatz will have to run again in 2016. Cavasso has to be credited with the most asinine remark of the week, politically:
“If Hanabusa loses, I believe there’s a good chance those will come over to us,” he said, adding, “I believe that I am the person best qualified to take on the mantle of Daniel Inouye in Hawaii.”
No, Cam. They’re Democrats. They might not be as liberal as Brian Schatz, but they’re not so conservative that they’ll swing to your party. Not in a million years.