Posted on: Sunday, October 24, 2004

Incumbents facing GOP challengers

By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

The war in Iraq. Military spending in Hawai'i. A Native Hawaiian federal recognition bill. Same-sex marriage.

Voters will get to choose Hawai'i's voices on these issues and others in Washington, D.C., as three of the four members of the state's congressional delegation are up for re-election.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, who has become the symbol of Hawai'i politics, is seeking an eighth six-year term in the Senate. He is the third most senior member of the Senate, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, and likely the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee next session if he wins re-election.

His Republican opponent, Cam Cavasso, is a former state lawmaker who was motivated to run because of Inouye's vote against a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie is pursuing his eighth full two-year term in the House. He is on the House Armed Services Committee and is an advocate for military projects and spending in Hawai'i. He also was a vocal opponent of the war in Iraq.

Former television and newspaper journalist Dalton Tanonaka, his GOP challenger, argues that he would bring a more balanced view than Abercrombie.

U.S. Rep. Ed Case is in his first full re-election campaign. Case, an attorney and former state lawmaker, has focused on education and economic issues.

Mike Gabbard, his challenger, serves on the Honolulu City Council. He is best known for his support of a 1998 state constitutional amendment defining marriage exclusively as between a man and a woman.