Former congressman Charles Djou launched a new bid for Congress on Wednesday with a call for bipartisanship, but the U.S. Army reservist said he would not campaign until late March, when he returns from deployment to Afghanistan.
Djou entered the Republican primary in urban Honolulu’s 1st Congressional District, setting up a potential rematch against U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, who defeated Djou last November.
Djou said he was motivated by concerns about the nation’s high unemployment rate, slow economic growth and downgraded credit rating. He also described himself as a centrist and an independent who could work with both the House Republican majority and Hawaii Democrats during a time of increased polarization.
"We need people who are in the middle of the aisle who can talk to both Democrats and Republicans alike," he said at the Stone Factory, a countertop and cabinet business he chose as an example of the need for job creation in a difficult economy.
Djou, a major in the Judge Advocate General Corps of the Army Reserve, said he has been assigned to deploy with the Army’s 10th Mountain Division and will serve as an adviser on the rule of law in a province near the Afghanistan and Pakistan border. His deployment starts shortly after Labor Day and is scheduled to end in late March, he said, and he will not campaign until he returns.
Djou, 41, volunteered for the Army Reserve after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Some of Djou’s critics noted that he had never been deployed, yet he appeared in uniform in campaign advertisements before the special election for Congress he won last year.
"I know that the timing of my deployment is not ideal, and I realize that this is enormously disruptive to myself, to my family and, of course, to this campaign," he said.
"But I also realize it is no more disruptive than what 100,000 families are currently going through with a loved one in harm’s way.’
Djou said he would leave it to his campaign advisers to raise money and build an organization while he is away. His campaign had more than $234,000 in cash at the end of June.
Djou won a special election to serve out the remaining months of Neil Abercrombie’s U.S. House term after Abercrombie resigned to run for governor. But he lost to Hanabusa in the November general election.
Hanabusa is expected to announce this month whether she will run for re-election or enter the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate to replace U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who is not seeking another term.
"We should all support giving voters a choice," Hanabusa said in a statement on Wednesday.
In a separate statement from her congressional office, Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, wished Djou and his fellow reservists well.
"This is a reminder of the sacrifices made by so many Hawaii residents who are called to serve. We will be hoping and waiting for their safe return," she said.
Djou’s description of himself as a centrist who believes in a bipartisan approach in Washington, is another indication that island Republicans will likely avoid a conservative message in 2012.
Former Gov. Linda Lingle, who is considering a Republican U.S. Senate campaign, has also recently spoken of her bipartisan credentials.
With Hawaii-born President Barack Obama up for re-election and likely to drive voter turnout, Republicans must appeal to independents and moderate Democrats to have a chance in a state Democrats have dominated.
The National Journal, a national newsmagazine that covers politics, gave Djou’s voting record a 58.3 conservative rating while he was in Congress and listed him among House centrists.
"The problem here is if we have too many congressmen who go to the far extremes of their respective partisan parties," Djou said. "Right now, I think our current representatives — if you looked at their voting records — vote lock-step with their political party instead of doing what I believe you should be doing, doing what I did as a congressman, and that is voting with Hawaii first, Hawaii always."
Djou has opposed new taxes and supported a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He said he would have voted to raise the debt ceiling if he were still in Congress, with the stipulation that the federal government reduce spending.
Djou said he also agreed with Obama’s creation of a bipartisan commission to address the budget deficit.
He said he was under no illusions about the difficulty of a congressional race with Obama also on the ballot. He said, however, that Hawaii voters split their votes statewide in 2006 when they re-elected the Republican Lingle and the Democrat Akaka.
"I’m not running for the presidency of the United States. I’m running to represent the people of Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District," he said.
