Sunny Hawaii is home to hottest Democratic primary
POLITICO: With a single act of defiance — ignoring the dying wishes of the legendary Sen. Daniel Inouye and tapping his own guy for a rare Senate appointment — Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie triggered one of the most intriguing and hotly contested primary battles of 2014....
“It’s going to be a very competitive race. I think it’s going to go down to the wire,” said Jennifer Sabas, a veteran of Hawaii Democratic politics who was Inouye’s longtime chief of staff. “And I don’t think the incumbent necessarily has the advantage.”
Schatz, as an incumbent, starts off with the fundraising advantage and has inherited a team of national strategists and consultants to run his campaign. Hanabusa, on the other hand, is better known within the state and is tapping into the network and political organization Inouye left behind.
“If you look since 2006 in Hawaii, you’ve seen the progressive candidate win basically every time,” said Clay Schroers, Schatz’s newly minted campaign manager.
(Schatz) also brought on many of the national consultants who helped Hirono win her seat last November: Andy Winer, Schatz’s chief of staff; Rich Davis, his media consultant; and Trilogy Interactive, his digital strategists, for example, all worked for Hirono’s 2012 campaign....
Hanabusa, though, is well-known across the state and has a record to run on after serving as president of the state Senate. She was raised mostly by her grandmother while both her parents worked full time running a local gas station and grew up in Waianae, a lower-income area on the western side of Oahu.
In fact, said Pete Brodnitz, Hanabusa’s pollster, she has a type of relationship with Hawaii voters that Schatz lacked during his tenure as lieutenant governor.....
The first public survey in the race, conducted by Civil Beat Poll and released early this month, found Schatz with a slight lead over Hanabusa, 36 percent to 33 percent. That’s a very different picture than the one painted by a recent poll for EMILY’s List, which found Hanabusa leading 46 percent to 35 percent. An internal poll from Schatz’s campaign, conducted by Mark Mellman, gave Schatz a 1-point advantage, 38 percent to 37 percent.
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Hanabusa vs Hirono: