Democrats urge voting for Mink in general election

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

State Democratic leaders made clear yesterday they will aggressively campaign for the late Patsy Mink in an effort to hold onto her congressional seat in the Nov. 5 election.

Patsy Mink died Saturday after battling viral pneumonia for almost a month. Advertiser library photo

Inouye and U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie spent yesterday morning rallying the support of organized labor in the governor's race, but also used the meeting as an opportunity to talk to labor leaders about carrying on Mink's legacy.

"Sadly, her voice has been stilled," Inouye said. "We are the ones who will have to carry on the spirit of Patsy. And I think that our coming campaign will be a lot about Patsy. She will be our guiding light."

Mink, 74, died Saturday after battling viral pneumonia for almost a month. Her name will remain on the ballot in the general election, where she is opposed by Republican Bob McDermott and two third-party candidates. If Mink wins, a special election will be held within four months to fill the seat.

The situation is not without precedent. At least three deceased candidates have been elected to the U.S. House in the past, and Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan was elected to the Senate in 2000, three weeks after he died in a plane crash.

Inouye said a special election is preferable to electing a different candidate in the general election.

"Yes, it will cost the taxpayers money, but I would prefer to spend money to assure that Hawai'i gets the best voice possible," Inouye said. A special election will cost about $2 million.

Inouye does not live in the 2nd Congressional District that Mink represented but said he will urge voters there to vote for Mink.

"If I were there, I'd do it just to honor her and express our gratitude for many, many years of extraordinary service, not only to Hawai'i, but to the nation," he said.

Inouye chastised those who speculated that Democrats might have manipulated the timing of the announcement of Mink's death, a scenario he compared to the plot of a movie.

"I cannot imagine any Democratic leader being involved in a scheme of that nature," he said. "First, it's not necessary. Second, it's just outrageous. Third, it's outrageous for anyone to suggest that.

"We would be ghoulish and not worthy of consideration if we had entered into a conspiracy of that nature."

Andrew Winer, director of the Democratic Party Coordinated Campaign, which is overseeing all of the party's campaign efforts in Hawai'i, said there has not yet been any discussion about how the campaign will proceed. "This is a week to honor Patsy Mink," he said.

Winer said the decisions will be made by Mink's family. Her husband, John, is the campaign manager and treasurer. "I'm sure he and the daughter will make decisions on what to do with the funds," Winer said.

Abercrombie said he and Gov. Ben Cayetano met with Mink's husband and daughter, Gwendolyn, yesterday.

"They're devastated, as you can well imagine," he said. "John and Patsy and Wendy were a team in every sense of the word and any time a team is broken up, it's always difficult."

McDermott said he was upset over calls by the Democrats to vote for Mink and dismissed talk of the special election, which would not be needed if he prevails in November.

"He's telling people to throw their vote away," McDermott said. "The people of Hawai'i are not stupid and I predict that at the end of the day they're not going to throw their vote away."

While several names have have surfaced as potential candidates for a special election, only one person has announced plans to run: veteran Big Island political figure Malama Solomon.

Solomon, a Democrat who served 16 years in the state Senate, said she has considered running for the 2nd District seat for some years. However, she said she would never have run against Mink, whom she said she knew since she was 7.

Solomon, 51, who lives in Waimea, is a cattle rancher with leases at several sites in North and South Kohala and in Hamakua.

Matt Matsunaga, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, has also been mentioned as a potential candidate, but he refused to talk about it yesterday, saying that he was focused on the lieutenant governor's race.

"Now is not the time to speculate upon who might run for election if it should come to fruition," he said. "I think now is a time to pray and offer support for Patsy's family, John and their daughter. Patsy was a great American hero, a great American woman and one of my role models in politics."

Political observers say it's too soon to say how voters will feel about being urged to cast their ballots for Mink as a tribute, rather than as a vote for a living candidate. But nearly all believe that Mink will easily win the race.

At Windward Mall yesterday, Claudine Tomasa of Kailua said she had no doubt she would vote for Mink.

"She's been a name in our households ever since the 1950s. She is a legacy," Tomasa said.

Tomasa said she also looks forward to the special election. "I think we have a good pick of Democrats," she said. "The candidates who are possibly going to be running have already shown their (qualifications)."

Waimanalo resident Keola Nunies, 75, said that he has always voted for Mink and plans to pay her tribute by continuing the tradition in November. "I'm still with her body and soul," he said.

But others said they believed that voting for a deceased candidate doesn't make sense.

"Why would you vote for someone who wouldn't be able to fill the position?" asked Jane Kane, 21, of Kane'ohe.

Kane said the Democratic Party should have tried to replace Mink, perhaps with the candidate who came in second in the Democratic primary. Little-known Democratic candidate Steve Tataii, who received 14,178 votes to Mink's 67,246 in the primary, on Friday filed a protest in the state Supreme Court, demanding that his name replace Mink's on the ballot because her condition had been kept secret from voters.

Kane said electing McDermott, the Republican, made more sense than holding a special election. "It's just a matter of wasting taxpayer money," she said.

Martha Kaimana, 46, said she had supported Mink for the past 20 years and had planned to vote for her in the upcoming election. However, with Mink's death, she said she planned to vote for McDermott.

"I think it's stupid to have two elections," she said. "She's passed. She's gone. Let's move on. I think that's what she would have wanted, too."

Big Island correspondent Hugh Clark and the Associated Press contributed to this report.