Rep. Ed Case says he'll run for governor
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief
State Rep. Ed Case, a dissident Democrat who argues that his party must change course or lose power in Hawai'i, formally announced yesterday he will run for governor next year.
Case, D-23rd (Manoa), acknowledged he is the underdog in the campaign, since he does not have the name recognition or the money that his better-known Democratic competitors have.
Manoa resident Democrat Ed Case, 49, is a lawyer and former House majority leader.
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono have also said they are running for governor, although the talk in political circles this week was that Hirono is reassessing her campaign.
Hawai'i Republican Party Chairwoman Linda Lingle, a former Maui mayor, is also running.
Case, 49, is a lawyer and former House majority leader. He split with his fellow House Democrats last year after publicly criticizing the way his colleagues handled efforts to reform and streamline government.
Case called the Democrats' modest changes in the public employment system in 2000 "an embarrassment," arguing they did not do enough to curb the cost of government or make it more efficient.
House Democrats removed Case as majority leader in November, and political insiders have speculated ever since that he might run for governor.
The state must make advances in economic revitalization, reducing the cost of government, increasing government efficiency, and educational reform, which are old issues for Hawai'i, Case said.
"Those aren't any surprises. Those have been the obstacles to us getting where we want to go for a long time now," Case said. The most important issue in the campaign will be "change," and which candidate is most committed to it, Case said.
Case said he decided to announce his plans now because of the speculation that Hirono might drop out of the governor's race. Case said that triggered calls to him from people who wanted to know what he would do.
Hirono has uncharacteristically refused to discuss her plans this week, further fueling speculation that she may be ready to pull out of the race. In the past when Hirono was asked about similar speculation, she would crisply advise reporters that she remained a candidate for governor.
This time, she told reporters she won't discuss the matter because she is focused on the state's economic crisis. As Hirono said yesterday in a telephone interview from Washington, "What my next job might be is not uppermost in my mind."
Without a clear denial, won't people believe the talk?
"That would be speculation," she said.
