Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Saturday sought to assert his dominance over Democratic Party politics, trumpeting the state’s economic turnaround since he took office four years ago and reassuring delegates at the party’s state convention that they have "the right governor."

Abercrombie, who spoke to the convention at the Sheraton Waikiki twice — once as a candidate and the other as an elected official — said the party needs candidates who do not argue about a minimum wage increase, whether to support state-funded preschool, or finance the conservation of land at Turtle Bay Resort, but take decisive action, a swipe at state Sen. David Ige, his primary opponent.

"So I can report to you that we have restored Hawaii’s fiscal health. We’re contributing to the economic recovery by focusing on growth and sustainability. We’re transforming government by implementing measures to move government into the 21st century efficiently and effectively to serve the public. We’re investing in education and skills and the well-being of Hawaii’s people," the governor said. "And that means we have the right values, we have the right priorities, and I can report to you, you’ve got the right governor."

Ige, who will address the convention on Sunday, told delegates during a brief appearance as a candidate on Saturday that he is running for governor to "restore trust and faith" in state government.

The state senator, in an interview, said it was the Legislature that passed many of the things the governor highlighted.

"It’s amazing to me in this campaign how I get blamed for everything that doesn’t happen, but he takes the credit for everything that does happen," he said. "You can’t have it both ways."

Dante Carpenter, the party’s chairman, referred to Abercrombie as the party’s titular head, but the party has been without a center since the death of iconic U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye in 2012.

Carpenter told the 604 delegates that Inouye’s death and the retirement of U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka has "stirred a hornet’s nest" of political activity, a swarm of candidates and ideological divisions that might not settle until after this year’s elections and beyond.

Democrats on Saturday adopted a party platform with several new provisions, including support for a policy of agricultural home rule for counties. Delegates rejected a proposed amendment to the platform that would have called for the labeling of genetically modified food.

The platform supported taxpayer funding for preschool, a key policy goal of the Abercrombie administration, but not vouchers or tax credits for private preschool.

Democrats adopted dozens of resolutions, including one urging the state to reconsider the Common Core curriculum at public schools and another calling for a more progressive tax structure that reduces taxes on low-income residents.

Due to rainy weather, the party moved a candidate meet-and-greet to the Sheraton Waikiki from the Royal Hawaiian’s Coconut Grove. Candidates for federal and state offices were each given three minutes to speak as delegates were eating lunch, a cattle call that provided only brief insight into where the candidates stand.

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who are competing in the primary to fill out the final two years of Inouye’s six-year term, used both the meet-and-greet and their reports to delegates as elected officials to share broad outlines of their campaigns.

Schatz said themes such as protecting the middle class, civil rights, labor interests and diversity separate Democrats from Republicans, taking aim at tea party conservatives.

The appointed senator discussed his proposal to increase Social Security benefits by requiring the wealthy to pay a greater share through lifting a $117,000 wage cap. He also emphasized the need to make college more affordable.

"College affordability is the middle-class issue of our generation," Schatz said. "And we’ve got to bring the cost of college down so that education can lead to opportunity and not a lifetime of debt."

Hanabusa also focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare, telling delegates that Democrats have to play defense against Republicans who would privatize the entitlement programs. She called for a federal jobs act that would invest in educators, infrastructure, emergency responders and veterans.

The congresswoman invoked her Waianae roots and her rise as the first woman to become state Senate president and her election to Congress. She took a sharper edge than she has previously on equal pay, an issue Schatz has also spotlighted.

"We need to make pay equality a reality," Hanabusa said. "It is insulting and absurd that women do not earn what men do."