Hawai'i Republican Party Chairman Jonah Kaauwai is claiming that GOP victories in the New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races on Tuesday presage a resurgence in the Islands next year.

Kaauwai said during a telephone news conference yesterday that the same issues that led voters to choose Republicans in those contests also worry Hawai'i residents.

He says those issues include high taxes, big government and President Obama's health care and climate change policies.

State Democratic Party Chairman Brian Schatz says Hawai'i Republicans should focus more on local problems, such as ending teacher furloughs, than Mainland politics.

On the 2010 Hawai'i ballot are contests for governor, and seats in the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and Legislature.