Updated at 4:46 p.m., Thursday, January 19, 2006
Case to challenge Akaka for U.S. Senate seat
| • | Read Ed Case's statement on his Senate bid |
By Derrick DePledge
Advertiser Government Writer
The unusual primary fight will likely test party loyalty and prompt a scramble to fill Case's congressional seat.
Akaka said through a spokesman that he intends to run for re-election.
Case, D-Hawai'i, was elected in a special election in 2002 to fill out the remainder of U.S. Rep Patsy Mink's term after she died. He won a second special election to replace Mink after she was elected posthumously.
Akaka, D-Hawai'i, has served in the Senate since 1990.
"Our Hawai'i has been served ably and with great distinction by generations of U.S. senators, including Sen. Daniel Akaka," Case said in a prepared statement. "Like all of our Hawai'i, I have the deepest aloha for Sen. Akaka and truly honor his decades of selfless service.
"But we all know that we are in a time of transition in our Hawai'i's representation in Congress and especially in the Senate. This transition requires that we phase in the next generation to provide continuity in that service."
