A Coffee win would allow the Hawai'i Republican Party to select a replacement for the general election contest in November against the Democratic primary winner, U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka who defeated U.S. Rep. Ed Case late last night.

"I'll certainly be offering my thoughts about who would be best," Gov. Linda Lingle said last night. "We will do our best to make that a very, very competitive race with an outstanding candidate on our side."

Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou had been mentioned as a likely candidate to take Coffee's place in the general election, but Djou ruled that out last night.

Djou said he was flattered to have people approaching him to suggest that he run, but said stepping into the Senate race "is not something that's going to work well for myself and my family."

"It's not the right time," he said. "Maybe one day, sometime in the future, but not now."

Sam Aiona, the state GOP chairman, said party officials have to act quickly to appoint Coffee's replacement because state administrative rules allow them only three days — until Tuesday — to name a new candidate.

"The executive committee decides the one who's going to replace Jerry Coffee. We've spoken to potential candidates, but really it's too early to make any speculation," he said. He declined to say whom the party is considering.

The party's executive committee is made up of the party's vice chairman, secretary, treasurer and national committee members, he said.

Today will be dedicated to activities meant to encourage party unity, so the earliest the committee would meet is tomorrow, Aiona said. He said he wasn't sure how long it would take for the committee to make a decision.

Coffee, a motivational speaker and a former prisoner of war in Vietnam, suspended his campaign in early August after he became ill while attending a funeral in Texas. He was hospitalized and underwent emergency heart bypass surgery, but remained too ill to campaign.

Coffee officially withdrew from the Senate race on Aug. 31, but the ballots with his name on them already had been printed.

The state Office of Elections posted notices of Coffee's withdrawal at voting sites, but Lingle told reporters after she cast her absentee ballot on Sept. 12 that she voted for Coffee anyway.

"I wanted to make a statement on Jerry Coffee's behalf. He's a great person, a great American. He loves this state very much and he put himself forward. And I felt, personally, I wanted to cast my vote for him," Lingle said.

Lingle said she was not asking other Republicans to follow her lead by voting for Coffee, but other Republican leaders also supported Coffee, who had a comfortable lead over the five other Republicans in vote tallies early this morning.