Hawaii Stays Native
In the final Senate primary of 2006, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D) successfully held off Rep. Ed Case (D) by a surprisingly comfortable 55%-45% margin. True, most recent polls didn't show the race as particularly tight, however many observers thought Akaka might only squeak through on Saturday, if large numbers of Republicans and Independents voted for Case in the Democratic primary. Indeed, final turnout on the Dem side was about 235K voters, compared to only about 185K in 2002, when Case narrowly lost the GOV nomination to ex-LG Mazie Hirono (D). On the GOP side, withdrawn candidate Jerry Coffee (R) won a 6-way primary with 41% of the vote, meaning the state party, under the leadership of Gov. Linda Lingle (R), will be able to appoint a Republican nominee for the 11/7 ballot.
Speaking of Hirono, it's not often that both parties in a single congressional district end up with equally tight primaries, but that appears to be the case in HI-02. With only a single precinct uncounted, Hirono leads state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa 21.8% to 21.1% (796 votes), with ex-state Sen. Matt Matsunaga (D) in third at 14.3%. On the GOP side, in a minor upset, state Sen. Bob Hogue (R) appears to have defeated ex-state Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa (R) by only 196 votes (50.6%-49.4%.). While even Kawananakoa would have had a tough time pulling this Dem seat into the GOP column, Hirono now seems virtually assured of winning this seat in November. You can chalk up another '06 primary victory for EMILY's List. [QUINN MCCORD]
What exactly is meant by the headline "Hawaii Stays Native?" Both of the Senate candidates were born in Hawaii (Case in Hilo, Akaka in Honolulu).