• Full election results

Largely unknown outside of his own state House district when he launched his campaign more than a year ago, Mark Takai rode a surge of momentum in the final stretch of the campaign and turned out the Democratic vote in the hotly contested race for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District.

With all precincts reporting, Takai defeated Republican Charles Djou 

52 percent to 48 percent in a general election that generated one of the lowest turnouts in state history. The difference was 6,941 votes.

"The work begins tomorrow," Takai said in his victory speech just moments after Djou had called to concede.

In the other race for Congress, voters gave U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard a second term representing Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District, covering rural Oahu and the neighbor islands. The Democrat cruised to victory over little-known and underfunded Republican Kawika Crowley in a rematch of their 2012 contest.

Gabbard secured 79 percent of the vote, compared with 19 percent for Crowley. The race also featured Libertarian Joe Kent, who garnered 2 percent.

Takai will become the newest member of Hawaii’s all-Democratic delegation and join a Congress that is solidly in Republican control after the balance of power in the Senate shifted to the GOP in Tuesday’s midterm elections.

Takai said he felt his race was going to be extremely close, but that hard work from hundreds of supporters was key to his winning.

"It was incredible — the hundreds of people that came together to support us made this win possible," he said.

Takai also said countering a flurry of TV advertising against him late in the race was important. 

"When American Action Network came in with more than $300,000 (in ad spending) very late in the race, we knew that we had to compete," he said. "So we actually worked real hard to ensure that we were able to put up on our side enough TV (ads) to counter that, and we did it."

In an emotional concession speech, Djou said he did his best, but fell short again. This was Djou’s third unsuccessful shot at the seat after winning it in a special election in May 2010. 

"We gave it our all tonight. We tried our hardest," Djou told a few dozen supporters who had gathered at his campaign headquarters in Kalihi to watch the returns. "That dream that I have, that belief that I have for building a strong, two-party democracy, changing our government, transforming how Hawaii operates, is going to have to be deferred yet another day."

As for whether he would ever run again, Djou just said, "We’ll see."

The race between Takai and Djou, two seasoned legislators and military veterans who served overseas, had been close until Election Day. Both were vying to succeed U.S. Rep. Colleen Hana-busa, the Demo-crat who gave up the seat representing urban Oahu in the U.S. House in an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate.

John Hart, chairman of the communications department at Hawaii Pacific University, said Takai had one big factor on his side.

"At the end of the day, he has a D after his name," Hart said. "Charles is a very good candidate, but he did have some high negatives and when we see this kind of situation, usually when the lesser person becomes known, the opponent’s high negatives kick in."

The closeness of the race left both candidates staking out centrist positions on policy while also trying to support some of the core principles of their parties.

Djou had stressed the need to lower the cost of doing business in Hawaii by reducing the layers of government regulation and taxes, thus encouraging more small-business owners to hire more employees and expand operations.

Takai voiced support for infrastructure projects at the federal level to drive the overall economy and spur job creation, and also backed renewable energy and sustainable food initiatives to prevent an estimated annual loss of $9 billion from the economy for the importation of foreign oil.

Takai also sought to tie Djou to tea party conservatives, whom many have blamed for the bitter partisan gridlock in Congress, saying their values are not in line with those of traditionally Demo-cratic Hawaii.

Djou countered that his election would be more beneficial to Hawaii because it would give the islands a seat in the majority party in the U.S. House.

Both relied on expensive media campaigns to get out their messages.

Takai raised about $1.4 million in the campaign through Oct. 15, the latest date for which reports are available at the Federal Elections Commission website. He spent about $1.2 million on the race overall, which included an expensive campaign to emerge from a crowded Demo-cratic primary.

Djou had raised about $925,000 and spent only about $548,000 as of Oct. 15. Unlike Takai, Djou spent little in the GOP primary against token opposition, giving him the cash on hand in the final weeks of the campaign to mount a last-second ad blitz of television and radio commercials.

But both also received substantial help from mainland interests, also known as super PACs, which are allowed to spend unlimited amounts to try to influence a race, so long as there is no coordination with a candidate or party.

In the final weeks of the campaign, the American Action Network, a conservative political action committee headed by former Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, spent about $300,000 on television ads against Takai.

Meanwhile, the group Working Families for Hawaii, a labor group financed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, entered the race with $144,000 in TV ads against Djou. Vote-Vets.org, a group that supports progressive veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for Congress, supported Takai with $185,000 in early October, on top of $175,000 it spent to raise his name identification in the primary.

Takai supporters joined other Democratic candidates at the Manoa Grand Ballroom in the Japa-nese Cultural Center in Moiliili for an Election Night rally co-hosted by comedian Andy Bumatai and state Democratic Party Chairwoman Stephanie Ohigashi. Entertainment was provided by Brother Noland.

Nuuanu resident Christina Aikau caught the bus to the campaign event to support Takai after she got off work in the accounting department for Foodland Super Market Ltd. in Kaimuki.

Aikau, who voted for Takai earlier in the day, said she believes the Democrat is the better choice, adding that he explained his positions well and is honest. 

"I think he’ll do the job," she said.

Takai spent the afternoon sign-waving across the district and making phone calls to try to turn out every last one of his voters.

Djou visited Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei in the morning to discuss the elections with third-graders. 

The race was close throughout, characterized by close polling results and the money spent by both sides.

Takai, 47, served in the state Legislature representing the Newtown-Pearl City area for 20 years. A lieutenant colonel in the Hawaii Army National Guard, Takai was deployed to Kuwait in 2009 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Djou, 44, served in the state House and City Council before winning the 1st Congressional District seat in 2010. In May of that year, Djou emerged victorious from a special election over Democrats Hanabusa and Ed Case, and held the seat until he was defeated in the November general election by Hanabusa later that year. A major in the U.S. Army Reserve, Djou was deployed with his unit in 2011 to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

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Star-Advertiser reporters Andrew Gomes and Kathryn Mykleseth contributed to this report.