Case wins election; sets sights on Jan. 4
By James Gonser
Advertiser Staff Writer
Democrat Ed Case said yesterday he hopes his solid victory in Saturday's special election to fill the remaining weeks of the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink's current term in Congress will give him an edge in the decisive race for Hawai'i's new U.S. representative on Jan. 4.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Only 13.3 percent of the 347,922 eligible voters in the district made it to the polls, but Case garnered 51 percent of the votes to beat out Mink's husband, John, and 36 other candidates.
Ed Case and his wife Audrey yesterday celebrated his victory in the election to complete Patsy Mink's term.
"This has been an unusual election under difficult circumstances," Case said yesterday. "But the voters have made their decision and I'll do the best job I can for them until the current term ends in January."
Case drew 23,576 votes compared to 16,624, or 36 percent, for Mink, who was considered the sentimental favorite. Republican John Carroll finished third with 1,933 votes and fellow party member Whitney Anderson was fourth with 942 votes.
Case, who came close to winning the Democratic primary election for governor this year, said he was "deeply grateful to the voters of Hawai'i's 2nd District."
He said he will retain Mink's staff and meet with them here this morning before flying to Washington D.C. this afternoon. He tentatively plans to return Friday to Hawai'i to begin campaigning for the next election on Jan. 4, in which 43 others are also running.
Although Case is officially a Hawai'i congressman, it is unlikely he will ever cast a vote on the House floor or be sworn into office for the term he just won. The U.S. House of Representatives has essentially left for the year and, unless there is an emergency, will not gather again until January, when lawmakers will open the 108th Congress.
Final results
91 of 91 precincts reporting
Despite the unusual circumstances, Case will be paid for December and will have access to an office.
Mink posthumously won re-election in November. The second special election will be to replace her in the 108th Congress. The winner of that election will be sworn in with other new lawmakers in a ceremony scheduled for Jan. 7
"(Saturday's win) gives (Case) a little bit of a leg up," said University of Hawai'i political science professor Neal Milner. "He was able to reactivate his organization. He was able to get a little more name recognition and is now able to portray himself as a winner."
Jim Wang, a University of Hawai'i-Hilo professor emeritus of political science, said Case now takes on a different perspective in the eyes of voters.
"Once he is in, he is considered an incumbent," Wang said. "Once you are in you have much more name recognition."
The 2nd Congressional District includes rural O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands.
Former Democratic legislator Jim Shon, a veteran observer of state politics, agrees that this victory bodes well for Case.
"It is indicative that even with a low turnout he does well," Shon said. "Lots of people are probably thinking, 'Was it really necessary to do this?' That fact is it was kind of a symbolic election yet people chose not to go with John Mink. I guess people decided we've go to move on."
Voter turnout for Saturday's race was the lowest state Office of Elections spokesman Rex Quidilla could remember. The special election for city Council District 5 earlier this year drew 20 percent of the registered voters, and 45.7 percent of voters turned out for the Nov. 5 general election.
"Special elections are quite different from regular elections," Quidilla said. "It is a single contest. We made the services available to voters. We were charged to run this election and I think it was a good one."
Other contributing factors to the low turnout may have been the sold-out University of Hawai'i football game, holiday shopping getting into full swing and a race many considered unnecessary.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Milner said with more prominent Democrats in the Jan. 4 race and a real term in Congress at stake, he expects a better voter turnout.
Ed Case, here taping "mahalo" messages to campaign signs with volunteer Lloyd Nekoba, found himself looking ahead yesterday to Jan. 4, when he will face 43 others in the 2nd district race for Congress.
"You can find all kinds of reasons that probably lowered the turnout, but the compelling factor was this was so low visibility, there were so few reasons to vote and it was hard enough to vote so it didn't register with people's every day lives." Milner said. "It didn't compete in any way with shopping or anything else."
Patsy Mink, who had served Hawai'i in the U.S. House of Representatives for 24 years, died of viral pneumonia Sept. 28, two days too late to have her name removed from the general election ballot. Voters honored her with a clear victory on Nov. 5.
"What a legend," Case said of his predecessor. "If I can come anywhere close to providing the quality of representation that she did, I will be doing well. I know there are very high expectations of me taking Patsy Mink's seat.
"I am incredibly grateful for my volunteers and staff throughout the state. They really worked hard. We all felt there was some unfinished business from the governor's race. It's just 33 days to election eve and 33 days in a statewide race can whip by pretty fast. We have an incredibly well oiled machine at this point that is just humming along statewide. I'm certainly in the rhythm."
Hawai'i Chief Elections Officer Dwayne Yoshina said the special election will cost between $1.3 million and $1.7 million and with only 46,216 voters making it to the polls Saturday it will cost the state an estimated $32.45 per vote cast to hold the election.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
