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The 2010 special election for the 1st congressional district of Hawaii was a
special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
to the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
that took place to fill the vacancy caused by Representative
Neil Abercrombie Neil Abercrombie (born June 26, 1938) is an American politician who served as the seventh governor of Hawaii from 2010 to 2014. He is a member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. Born in Buffalo, New York, Abercrombie is a ...
's resignation on February 28, 2010, to focus on his campaign for
Governor of Hawaii The governor of Hawaii () is the head of government of the U.S. state of Hawaii and its various agencies and departments, as provided in the Hawaii State Constitution Article V, Sections 1 through 6. It is a directly elected position, votes bei ...
in the 2010 gubernatorial election. Abercrombie planned not to run for re-election in 2010, and many of the candidates that were running for his open seat transferred to the special election. The election was held on May 22, 2010, and Republican
Charles Djou Charles Kong Djou (born August 9, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who is currently secretary and chief executive of the American Battle Monuments Commission. A former member of the Republican Party, Djou briefly served as U.S. repre ...
won, defeating five Democrats, four fellow Republicans, and four Independent candidates. The main reason for his win was because there were two Democratic candidates instead of one, which split the votes, allowing Djou to win, as Hawaii is an overwhelmingly Democratic state. This is to date the only time a Republican was elected to Congress from Hawaii since
Pat Saiki Patricia Hatsue Saiki (''née'' Fukuda; born May 28, 1930) is an American politician and former educator from Hilo, Hawaii. A member of the Republican Party, she served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1991 ...
in
1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...
; Djou volunteered on Saiki's 1988 campaign, and Saiki served as Djou's campaign chair in 2010.


Special election rules

The election was held without a primary, meaning all candidates from all parties ran against one another and the person with the most votes (even if only a plurality) won; there was no runoff. With three top-tier candidates running, two Democrats and one Republican, it was considered likely that the two Democrats would split the vote, leading to a Republican victory. This was conducted as a vote-by-mail election. All registered voters as of the voter registration deadline were automatically mailed a packet containing the vote-by-mail ballot and return envelopes. No polling places were open on May 22, 2010. Ballots were mailed approximately 20 days prior to the election. Voted ballots had to be received by the State of Hawaii Office of Elections no later than 6:00 p.m., May 22, 2010, in the return envelopes provided. Any voter requiring the use of an accessible voting machine could do so at the Office of the City Clerk,
Honolulu Hale Honolulu Hale (originally called the Honolulu Municipal Building), located on 530 South King Street in downtown Honolulu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, is the official seat of government of the city and county, site of the chambers o ...
, 530 S. King St. from Monday, May 10, 2010, to Thursday, May 20, 2010, excluding Sundays and holidays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Walk-in voting was open on Saturdays during this period.


Candidates


Democrats

*Vinny Browne *
Ed Case Edward Espenett Case (born September 27, 1952) is an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he has served as the U.S. representative for Hawaii's 1st congressional district since 2019, which covers the urban core o ...
*Del Castillo *
Colleen Hanabusa Colleen Wakako Hanabusa (, born May 4, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2015 and again from 2016 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she ran for her party's nomination for ...
*Philmund Lee


Republicans

*Charles Amsterdam *Charles Collins *Douglas Crum *
Charles Djou Charles Kong Djou (born August 9, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who is currently secretary and chief executive of the American Battle Monuments Commission. A former member of the Republican Party, Djou briefly served as U.S. repre ...
*John Giuffre


No party affiliation

*Jim Brewer *Karl F. Moseley * Kalaeloa Strode *Steve Tataii (list of candidates appearing on the May 22, 2010 State of Hawaii, U.S. Representative District 1 Special Vacancy Election ballot)


Campaign

Democratic leaders conceded that the winner-take-all primary favored the one lone Republican in the race. The
Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...
(RNC) indicated it might directly support Djou with the hope of winning a congressional seat in a historically Democratic state; RNC political director Gentry Collins referred to
Scott Brown Scott Brown may refer to: Sportsmen *Scott Brown (American football), American college football coach of Kentucky State *Scott Brown (baseball) (born 1956), former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds *Scott Brown (footballer, born ...
's victory in a Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate in stating: "I think for us to win that seat will send a signal that what happened in Massachusetts is not an isolated event." Case and Hanabusa represented different wings of the party, Case being more of a blue-dog moderate Democrat, while Hanabusa was preferred by the liberal wing. Hanabusa secured the endorsement of
EMILY's List EMILYs List is a left-leaning American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office. It was founded by Ellen Malcolm in 1985. The group's name is an acronym for "E ...
, the local party establishment, and local labor unions. Case was at odds with the party establishment over his primary challenge to U.S. Senator
Daniel Akaka Daniel Kahikina Akaka (; September 11, 1924 – April 6, 2018) was an American educator and politician who served as a United States Senator from Hawaii from 1990 to 2013. He was a member of the Democratic Party. Born in Honolulu, he served in ...
in 2006 when he was still Representative of the 2nd district, although Case claimed that any bad blood with the Democratic electorate over the primary challenge was gone, according to his internal polling. Case also criticized Hanabusa for keeping her post as president of the State Senate while attempting to campaign, saying: "It is inconsistent for her to want to run the Senate in a time of crisis for our state and want to run a full-fledged congressional campaign." The national Democratic Party establishment and the Obama administration signaled Case was their pick, believing him more electable than Hanabusa. Case received support from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee while Hanabusa said she hadn't spoken to them since the previous year. Both Case and Hanabusa proposed that the other drop out for the sake of party unity. The
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States House of Representatives, working to elect Democrats to that body. The DCCC recruits candidates, raises funds and organizes races in ...
(DCCC) dispatched an aide to the state in the hopes of at least ensuring no other Democrats enter the race. It was unlikely either Democrat would drop out; both represented different views and both already faced off in a 2002 special election for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, which Case won. The DCCC chairman Congressman
Chris Van Hollen Christopher Van Hollen Jr. ( ; born January 10, 1959) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. re ...
said he was counting on Abercrombie to help keep the seat Democratic, indicating that endorsements would be used to show which Democrat was preferred by the national party. On May 10, 2010, the DCCC said it would not spend any further resources on the race, preferring to save those resources for the November election.


Endorsements


Polling


Results


References


External links


Hawaii Office of Elections websiteOfficial results from Hawaii Office of Elections websiteArchived


Debates


Hawaii 1st District House Special Election Debate
''
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...
'', May 7, 2010


Official candidate sites


Vinny BrowneEd Case campaignRafael Del CastilloCharles CollinsCharles DjouColleen Hanabusa
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