Opponentless Inouye prepares for re-election
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Sen. Dan Inouye has been steadily raising money for his re-election campaign next year, but the senator still has no Republican challenger.
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Inouye, D-Hawai'i, has $465,000 in cash on hand as he prepares to run for an eighth term in the Senate. His campaign raised $189,000 in the second quarter of the year, with most of the money, or $121,000, coming from political action committees, according to a federal campaign-finance report. His campaign spent $31,000 in the second quarter, and more than $302,000 during the election cycle.
Sen. Dan Inouye is preparing to run for an eighth term in the Senate.
Brennon Morioka, the chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party, said he would have preferred to have a candidate already raising money and building name recognition across the Islands. Nationally, the GOP would not likely invest many resources in Hawai'i unless a Republican candidate emerges who could seriously challenge the popular Inouye.
"Right now, we're still in the recruitment stage," Morioka said. "But we won't allow any race to go uncontested."
