The Democratic Party of Hawai'i today chose a Manoa accountant to fill a vacancy created after state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell's hurried decision on Tuesday to give up his re-election campaign and run for the Honolulu City Council.

Isaac Choy, an accountant who has served as campaign treasurer for several politicians, was selected by the House District 24 council after hours of private discussions about five potential candidates at party headquarters.

The state Office of Elections informed the party on Friday that it had until yesterday afternoon to pick a replacement for Caldwell. The elections office determined that Chrystn Eads, an aide to Mayor Mufi Hannemann, had not properly completed her paperwork when she tried to file for Caldwell's seat before the Tuesday deadline.

"I'm humbled and honored to be chosen to run for office," Choy said. "Hopefully, the drama will be behind us and we can move on to an election where the people will have a choice between opposing views."

Jerilyn Jeffryes, a retired medical administrator and community activist, filed on Tuesday as the Republican candidate in House District 24.

Caldwell's decision to run for council after City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi's late announcement Tuesday that she would run for mayor led to the rush to replace him. Former City Councilman Duke Bainum also filed for Kobayashi's council seat on Tuesday and has said he will likely challenge whether Caldwell's paperwork made the deadline.

Several Democrats have said privately that the situation has been embarrassing for the party even if no one deliberately tried to bend the rules. The jockeying, sources said, was in reaction to Kobayashi's late move and an attempt by some to prevent Bainum — who backed Kobayashi — from taking her council seat without a prominent opponent.

Eads, in an e-mail to reporters today, said she would not challenge the elections office decision to void her paperwork. The party had the option of naming Eads as the replacement candidate for Caldwell, sources have said, but many thought it would appear shady and prompt further backlash.

"My respect for the democratic process is what led me to rush to file nomination papers to ensure that the residents of Manoa would have a choice on their November ballot," Eads explained.

Brian Schatz, the party chairman, said the district council made the decision to pick Choy although party leaders were at headquarters for consultation. Party leaders had been talking privately for much of Friday afternoon and evening about how to deal with the vacancy.

"I think the people of Manoa are going to be well-served by having someone with community roots like Isaac on the ballot," he said.

State Republicans, meanwhile, were in disbelief.

At a news conference at state Republican headquarters today, Willes Lee, the state GOP chairman, said Republicans have asked the elections office to provide them with the same documents and legal rationale given to Democrats relating to Eads, the vacancy, and how it could be filled.

"The Hawai'i Republican Party is outraged at the political gamesmanship at the Office of Elections," Lee said.

Caldwell has said that the elections office was verbally notified on Tuesday that he would withdraw to run for City Council. Caldwell was described as withdrawn on the elections office list of candidates released publicly on Tuesday night. However, Caldwell said his formal withdrawal letter did not reach the elections office until Wednesday.

State law allows parties to replace vacancies of party candidates within three days.

Republicans argue that if Caldwell withdrew on Tuesday the three-day time limit for filling his vacancy would have expired on Friday. If his withdrawal was recorded on Wednesday, they claim, then he would have been filed to run for both the state House and the City Council at the same time, which is not permitted.

"When you start off on the wrong foot, you just tumble, and that's what's happened here," said state House Minority Leader Lynn Finnegan, R-32nd (Lower Pearlridge, 'Aiea, Halawa).

Caldwell said he believes his paperwork for City Council was completed properly but has asked the city clerk's office for a determination, which is expected later this week.

Caldwell said he supported the selection of Choy to replace him and described him as an excellent candidate who was born and raised in Manoa and involved in community affairs.

But Caldwell said he did not want to get into a debate with Republicans or others about his status for City Council.

"I'm not going to argue back and forth as to who's right and not right," he said. "I've asked that a complaint be filed on my behalf with the city clerk, and have asked her to render an opinion, and those are things that she'll have to look at."