Gov. Ben Cayetano said last night his administration would ask the Hawai'i Supreme Court to make an exception to state law, allowing a special election for the unfinished term of the late U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink to be held in conjunction with the Nov. 5 general election.

Cayetano said Attorney General Earl Anzai would ask the court for permission to hold the special election earlier than specified in state law, a move that could save taxpayers about $2 million.

The governor said his request had been prompted in part by a court ruling yesterday in the New Jersey case involving U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli, who announced after winning the primary election that he was withdrawing from the race, leaving the Democratic Party without a candidate for the Senate seat.

The deadline had passed for Democrats to appoint a replacement, but the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled unanimously yesterday that Torricelli's name could be removed from the ballot and replaced by a new candidate selected by the party.

The court reasoned that it was in the public interest to have candidates on the ballot from both major political parties, and said in its ruling that election laws should be construed broadly, rather than narrowly. The court had made a similar exception to the law in 1969, when a candidate died just before the election.

Cayetano said Anzai would review the New Jersey decision before filing with the Hawai'i Supreme Court.

The death of Mink, 74, on Saturday set up a situation somewhat similar to the New Jersey case. Hawai'i Democrats had a Sept. 26 deadline to name a replacement for Mink on the ballot, but Mink, hospitalized with viral pneumonia for more than a month, had not withdrawn from the race.

Her name will appear on the general election ballot Nov. 5, and prominent Democrats are calling on voters to cast ballots for her as a tribute. If Mink receives the most votes, it will force a special election to replace her.

Meanwhile, state officials say the U.S. Constitution and state law require that a special election be held to determine who will finish out her term, which ends Jan. 3. As it stands, a special election will be held Nov. 30, meaning the winner will serve only about five weeks.

It is that election which Cayetano would like to reschedule in conjunction with the general election. As in the New Jersey case, the problem is timing.

Hawai'i law requires that a proclamation for a special election "be issued not later than on the sixtieth day prior to the election to fill the vacancy...." That puts the legal deadline to announce the special election in early September, weeks before Mink died.

The state Office of Elections estimates each special election will cost about $2 million, which has prompted complaints from some Republicans and the public.

While cost is an issue, Cayetano said it is relatively minor compared with the need to get representation for the 2nd District as soon as possible.

"The main reason for this is the important issues before Congress right now," Cayetano said.

He noted the major appropriations bills that must be taken up by Congress, as well as possible voting on war with Iraq.

Officially filing to run yesterday in the special election was former City Councilman Kekoa Kaapu.

Former state Sen. Whitney Anderson announced he was considering running in the special election to finish Mink's term. The 70-year-old Republican said an exploratory committee had been formed to look into the race.

Other possible candidates for Mink's unfinished term include state Rep. Ed Case, who lost the Democratic primary for governor last month, former Gov. John Waihee, state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, and Mink's husband, John.

Republican Dalton Tanonaka, who had been mentioned as a possible candidate, said through a spokesperson that he had no plans to run. Tanonaka lost his bid for lieutenant governor in the Republican primary.

In Washington yesterday, a House committee voted to rename a landmark education law after Mink, calling her efforts for women's education "heroic, visionary and tireless."

The House Education and the Workforce Committee approved renaming the 1972 Title IX amendments. Title IX, which Mink helped write, bans gender discrimination in schools that receive federal money. The law is credited with revolutionizing women's sports and the public's attitudes about women's abilities in athletics.