Cruise ships and fishing boats hug the piers, executives make deals in office towers, vendors sell ripe bananas from sidewalk stalls, and hookers prowl some streets day and night. Honolulu's downtown area is a crossroads of the world, with a little bit of everything.

The neighborhoods that make up the state's 28th House District are also home to more than 20,000 people from Iwilei to Makiki, living in everything from renovated lofts and plush condominiums to aging housing projects and crowded homeless shelters.

Democrats who hope to represent them in the state House include Rep. Bev Harbin, an outspoken and controversial small-business advocate who was appointed to the seat last year; Karl Rhoads, an attorney and consultant; and Carlton Middleton, a newspaper street vendor and community activist. The only Republican candidate is Collin Wong, a former policy analyst in the governor's office.

The Democrat who wins the Sept. 23 primary election will face off against Wong in the Nov. 7 general election, and that's likely to be one of the year's high-profile House races. Wong ran for the seat and lost by just 150 votes in 2004, while Rhoads and Middleton are running for the first time. Harbin ran unsuccessfully for a different House seat in 1980 as a Republican.

Crime and public safety are big concerns of many downtown residents, including the candidates. Rhoads and Wong have served on a community safety patrol, and Harbin has been pushing for sanctions meant to keep convicted prostitutes from plying their trade in the neighborhood. Middleton was a driving force behind a 2004 law that made it illegal to urinate or defecate in public.

"Many good people live here, but also many drug people just stay around, and at night sometimes they're acting crazy," said Chinatown resident Matthew Nguyen.

The area's problems became more high-profile last month after a shooting — which may have been linked to a turf dispute between pimps — left one man dead and another wounded near the corner of Nu'uanu Avenue and Kukui Street.

Just blocks away at the state Capitol, Harbin has been something of a wild card. She has rankled fellow Democrats by publicly criticizing the placement of high-ranking private-sector employees as lawmakers' interns, for example.

Harbin and others have characterized such interns as "embedded lobbyists" because the industries that pay them typically have business before the Legislature. The practice is allowed, but the interns are forbidden from lobbying for their private employers during internships.

Harbin said too many of her colleagues have a "herd mentality" and "just do what they're told to do" by Democratic power-brokers. She said she opposes special interests and backroom deals that drive up costs for small businesses and residents, even if her stubbornness stirs up trouble with other lawmakers.

"There's been stakeholders just sitting back getting fat and lazy, and I'm appalled," she said. "You really see it when you're inside, and it's worse than I thought. I'm an in-your-face person, and there are those who are afraid of me up there. But there are others in the background saying, 'You go, girl!' "

Harbin is best known to many people for the small firestorm that erupted shortly after she took office last September — and has left her politically vulnerable.

Gov. Linda Lingle appointed Harbin to fill the seat vacated by former Rep. Ken Hiraki, a Democrat who held the position for 19 years and stepped down in midterm to become a lobbyist. But Lingle soon asked Harbin to resign after news reports revealed that she owed $125,000 in state taxes from a failed auto repair business and had misdemeanor convictions for writing bad checks.

The situation became an embarrassment for Lingle, who had been required to replace Hiraki with another Democrat and chose Harbin over Rhoads and three others the party had recommended. The appointment prompted speculation that Lingle — a Republican — had named Harbin because Harbin supposedly would not seek a full two-year term in this election, or would be easy for a Republican candidate to defeat.

But Harbin refused to step down, and said the controversy prompted her to run for the seat, even though she had originally intended to only serve out Hiraki's term. She said her tax problems stemmed from a former employee's embezzlement, and that the check charges resulted from a business dispute. She said she did not defraud anyone or lie about the problems, and that political opponents had spread talk about them to smear her.

"When I got sworn in one day and the very next day I was subjected to this horrible, horrible attack, once I stopped reeling from it I realized that I had to do a better-than-normal job to prove I was not just some political patsy," she said. "I've never, ever backed down from a fight — never. I'm also using the campaign to identify to the people who I am, and show that I'm not some crazy person."

Rhoads, a member of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said he hopes to reduce crime and promote the construction of affordable housing in the area. He said he also supports building more prisons, because too many petty criminals quickly return to the same streets after they're arrested.

"Unless you do something really bad, there's no consequences," he said.

Rhoads worked for Rep. Marilyn Lee, D-38th (Mililani, Mililani Mauka) for six legislative sessions, and said he knows his way around the Capitol.

"If I'm elected, I'll hit the ground running," he said.

Middleton said he has seen up close how government can make a difference. He said the anti-urination and defecation law was known to some as "Carl's shi-shi bill" because he proposed it after getting fed up with downtown streets that reeked of human waste. Hiraki agreed to sponsor the measure, which now allows police to cite offenders, and it has been a big help, Middleton said. "The smell on River Street is not as bad as it used to be," Middleton said. "It used to be horrible."

Wong worked as an aide to Sen. Gordon Trimble, R-12th (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Downtown), for two legislative sessions before joining Lingle's staff six months ago. Wong said combating crime and drugs in the area is his top concern and that he wants to promote responsible government that is accountable to the public.

"In order for a democracy to work, we really need a two-party system," he said. Too many good ideas fall victim to partisan bickering at the Capitol, he said.

Rhoads has raised more than $35,000 for his campaign so far, while Wong has raised more than $15,000. Harbin has raised no money, and said she'll refuse donations from special interests. Middleton said he hoped to raise some money soon.

Harbin was the only sponsor of 29 bills during her first session as a lawmaker — none of which was approved by her House colleagues. The measures took aim at everything from drug houses to high healthcare costs. Harbin said that even if her proposals go nowhere, they raise important issues, promote dialogue and show that she has been working hard.

candidates for 28th district