Calendar time. Barring the entry of a significant Republican candidate in either race, we are nine months away from selecting the next U.S. senator and governor for Hawaii.
The primary election is July 9, 2014, and mail-in ballots are expected to go out about three weeks before, so voters are already closing in on what will be a state-shaping Democratic primary.
The caveat is that there is still time for one or two popular GOP candidates to surface and push the decision to the November general election, but as of today, nada.
Democrats running for the U.S. Senate and the 1st Congressional District do not lack for competition. There are plenty of races, but the campaign for governor is still a question mark.
Usually with the second term for a Democratic governor, there is no opposition from within the party.
Even the sometimes confrontational former Gov. Ben Cayetano in his 1998 reelection campaign had only fringe opposition.
This year there is a bit of a question about what sort of opposition Abercrombie will face. After being in state, county or federal office almost continually since 1974, Abercrombie is easily Hawaii’s most controversial governor in 25 years.
Opposition to him so far has been muted. The campaign of veteran state Sen. David Ige is still mostly a public question mark.
It was only last week that Ige announced he was holding a fundraiser for his gubernatorial campaign, and that it isn’t scheduled until Nov. 5. In comparison, Abercrombie in June 2009, more than a year ahead of the primary election, already had a campaign and fundraising operation in place, including appearances by local actress Kelly Hu.
So far, Ige, a well-respected moderate Democrat, has offered few comments on the campaign trail, although last Thursday his campaign web site said, "I support legislation for equal treatment to same-sex couples but I do not support convening a special session."
Abercrombie, strongly in support of same-sex marriage, after receiving assurances that there was a majority of votes in the House and Senate to legalize gay marriage, called the Legislature into an Oct. 28 special session to pass the needed legislation.
The issue is expected to have strong support with progressive Democrats, who are expected to be a significant part of the Democratic primary vote.
Abercrombie’s campaign has been carefully making the rounds expected for an incumbent front-runner. He has held campaign kick-off rallies on all the islands and has devoted a lot of time to raising money.
So far, Abercrombie’s campaign reports having raised $2.3 million and spent $1.2 million. He has also held 11 fundraisers.
Abercrombie has started to get some labor endorsements, but the major public worker union support is still lacking. Although Abercrombie is continuing to sign contracts giving public workers significant pay increases, the support has not followed.
On the other hand, Ige has not won any labor endorsements.
For Ige, the campaign will come down to the rapidly dwindling days on that calendar and a virtually bare campaign treasury.
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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.
