Hawaii voters head to polls for primary election

Updated 6m ago

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii voters headed to the polls in a hotly contested primary election on Saturday as Democrats seek to regain control of the governor's office for the first time in eight years.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle is due to step down in December after serving the maximum allowed two terms. This gives the Democrats an opening to reinstall one of their own in an office they had controlled for 40 straight years until Lingle's election in 2002.

The two major Democratic candidates, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie and ex-Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, waged a barb-filled contest that included controversies over some of Hannemann's comments and political advertising.

Hannemann, 56, drew criticism for urging members of a carpenters' union to support him because "I look like you," a reference to Hannemann's Samoan-German ancestry. Abercrombie, who is white, said the former mayor shouldn't try to divide people by race.

A subsequent Hannemann campaign brochure highlighted his Hawaii birth while noting Abercrombie, 72, was born in New York. It also noted Hannemann's wife had a Japanese maiden name in comparison to Abercrombie's wife, who is white.

Sen. Daniel Inouye, the state's senior Democrat, in responding to the brochure, said it's "not nice" to highlight the ethnic differences of candidates' spouses.

Inouye remained neutral in the race and didn't endorse any candidate for governor.

Despite the sharp accusations, Hannemann and Abercrombie share similar plans to improve public education, promote renewable energy and build Honolulu's rail system.

Art Castaldi, a retiree in the Honolulu suburb of Kailua, voted for Hannemann.

"I like what he's done as the mayor, and I think he'll be successful as governor," Castaldi said after voting at Kainalu Elementary School.

He said the economy and the mass transit rail line proposed for Honolulu — a project Hannemann heavily promoted while mayor — were the most important election issues.

"They're both associated. If he gets the rail moving, our economy will pick up here too," Castaldi said.

Roberta Sylvester, a bookkeeper, is Republican but she voted in the Democratic primary for Hannemann. She did so to lower the chances Abercrombie — the more liberal of the two — would win November's general election.

"We don't want Abercrombie," said Sylvester, of Kailua, after voting with her husband. "I thought by maybe voting for Mufi, we'd get more votes for him and not Abercrombie."

But Steve Curty said he supported Abercrombie because the former congressman steered federal money into military equipment and housing. "I've been here for 26 years and I voted for him in every single election," said Curty, 57, who is self-employed.

Hawaii — the birth state of Barack Obama— is among the bluest in the nation. Democrats have an overwhelming majority in the state Legislature, and control three out of the state's four seats in Congress.

Among Republicans, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and Honolulu attorney John Carroll were vying for the right to represent their party in the governor's race.

Seven Democrats and two Republicans are seeking their respective party's nomination for lieutenant governor.

Voters also will decide primary races for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and the state Legislature, and contests for the nonpartisan state school board and state Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

Honolulu voters will choose a new mayor to succeed Hannemann.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2 ... tion_N.htm