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Abercrombie Loses 48 of 51 Districts in Primary Sweep
SA: Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Ige, little known outside of the state Capitol just six months ago, captured all but three state House districts in an unprecedented and thorough defeat of Gov. Neil Abercrombie in Saturday's primary election....
The three Abercrombie districts are HD4 Puna (still voting), HD10 Lahaina, and HD 11 Kihei. HD4 and HD10 are very close. Kihei was the only district in which Abercrombie scored a large margin of victory 1535 -- 1149. Nobody else wants Neil.
read ... And the Three Were ...
Gov’s ouster ups ante for new day
Borreca: After 40 years of public service, Abercrombie will now exit a dramatically-changing landscape that for decades until recently was helmed by a few elite politicians like himself.... Voters on Saturday sent a strong message of dissatisfaction in the status quo. Despite the many years of service, each gubernatorial candidate will need to work mightily over the next three months to define -- redefine -- himself to convince voters he can be trusted to lead the state for the next four years.
read ... Our View: Gov’s ouster ups ante for new day
Aiona: Primary Results Show Desire for Change
KHON: Republican Duke Aiona is banking on two things: a recent poll that has him with an early lead – and the historic upset of an incumbent Governor that he says is a call for change.
“I thought it was validated yesterday with the primary election with the result of the Ige-Abercrombie race.” Candidate Duke Aiona said.
I posed the 1994 scenario to Aiona – that year observers felt Independent candidate Frank Fasi was the spoiler – who helped the Democrats beat the Republicans in the race for Governor.
“Do you think this might happen again with your race with Mufi in the mix?” asked KHON. “Well – you have an independent who was a Democrat – a so-called Independent who was a Democrat his whole life – so his base lies there.” Aiona said.
read ... Duke in 2014
Djou Accepts KITV Debate Invitation
KITV: Hawaii's Republicans chimed in on the Primary Election results, seeing clear avenues of opportunity, especially in the gubernatorial and CD1 races.
read ... Interviews Charles Djou
Abercrombie Talks About Himself Some More
KHON: “Believe me, no tears need to be shed for me,” Abercrombie said. “Others, the people who love me, the people care about me, they are the ones who have had to make the sacrifices. My wife said to me the other day, you’ve worked a double shift for years and what really is the case is others have had to work that double shift.”...
When asked how he would like to remembered as not only a politician, but a man as well, Abercrombie said “I would like to disappear. Really. In the sense that, if you depend upon an individual, then you’re not going to have the institutional foundation that will really give a solid form to the things that you value.”...
“To the degree there’s going to be any memory, I hope it’s, boy, this guy made the tough decisions that had to be made,” he said.
“He had the confidence that making a decision when it needed to be made was the right thing to do, and he always did the right thing, the pono thing...."
read ... About His Favorite Topic
Hawaii Dems Move to the Suburbs
MN: He describes his childhood as looking eastward at the older Honolulu urban center, the tall downtown buildings and Diamond Head – referred to as “town”, different from his western suburbs, connected by the H-1 freeway (built in the early 1960s that divided and isolated neighborhoods and caused the downfall of older business districts, like Kaimuki).
If Ige becomes elected Governor, he represents the new State demographics, a graduate not from the iconic pre-World War II Honolulu high schools that produced many post-World War II political leaders like McKinley (Daniel Inouye, Hiram Fong, George Ariyoshi) or Farrington (Ben Cayetano) or English-Standard Roosevelt (Thomas Gill).
In the early 1970s with so many Honolulu residents moving from older neighborhoods to Moanalua (the first real suburb) and Pearl City that new high schools were built in the new high-density band between the old “town” high schools and Aiea and Leilehua (Mililani High and Kaiser were even later developments, in Oahu’s north-central planned community and at the southeastern edge, respectively).
read ... Ige and Changing Demographics
Puna's Power: District’s voters to decide US Senate race
HTH: A day after the primary, conversations at Da Store on Kahakai Boulevard revolved around basic supplies rather than the election the customers could end up deciding.
Store owners Derrick and Eileen Mende said the election remained a secondary priority for many.
“They are looking for immediate help right now,” said Derrick Mende.
With the help of a generator, the store was able to open for the first time Sunday, and a steady flow of customers arrived looking for whatever basic necessities they could carry.
Ice and water were the most popular items. A cold can of soda would also do.
Customer James Burt said he still looked forward to voting, but recommended the candidates focus on helping residents recover.
“It better be good,” he said, when asked what he would like to hear from them.
“We’re in trouble. I hope they can come up with a solution.”
read ... Puna
Increase in Absentee Voting Parallels Decrease in Turnout
MN: Maui County had the lowest primary election voter turnout in the state Saturday, with only 32.2 percent of the county's 85,581 registered voters casting ballots in person or by absentee.
Statewide, voter turnout was at 41.4 percent. Kauai County had the highest voter turnout at 47 percent, followed by the City and County of Honolulu at 43.4 percent and Hawaii County at 37.6 percent.
In Maui County, more people (15,432, or 18 percent) voted absentee than those who showed up at polls on election day (12,105, or 14.1 percent). The numbers show what election workers observed anecdotally Saturday.
Saturday's voter turnout for Maui County was not its lowest. It ranks as the fifth lowest since statehood in 1959. The county's record low turnout came in 2008 when only 25.6 percent of registered voters cast a ballot. Other low turnouts came in 2004, 26.9 percent; 2012, 30.6 percent; and 2000, 30.8 percent. These were all for primary elections.
While most voters stayed home or had other use for their time than going to polls Saturday, the minority that did vote favored incumbents heavily.
One exception came in the race for the Maui County Council's Makawao-Haiku-Paia residency seat. Incumbent Mike White finished second with 9,815 votes, or 35.7 percent, in a four-way race to former Council Member Mike Molina, who came out on top with 11,125 votes, or 40.4 percent.
read ... More Absentee = Fewer Voters
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