Hawaii lieutenant gov. picked to fill Senate seat

[No Elephants]

Dec 26, 10:26 PM EST

Hawaii lieutenant gov. picked to fill Senate seat

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaii Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz on Wednesday was appointed the state's next U.S. senator, bucking the dying wishes of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye to win the support of Gov. Neil Abercrombie.

Schatz, a 40-year-old former nonprofit CEO who ran with Abercrombie for the state's top two offices in 2010, beat out U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. The three candidates were selected by state Democrats earlier in the day.

The White House said Schatz would fly to Washington on Wednesday night aboard Air Force One, which was bringing President Barack Obama home early from his Christmas vacation as Congress considers what to do about the so-called fiscal cliff.

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Under state law, the successor had to come from the same party as the prior incumbent.

Inouye, by far Hawaii's most influential politician and one of the most respected lawmakers in Washington after serving five decades in the Senate, died last week of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He sent Abercrombie a hand-signed letter dated the day he died, saying he would like Hanabusa to succeed him, calling it his "last wish."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_US_SENATE_HAWAII?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2012-12-26-22-26-37

The last wish of long-serving Senator and war hero Inouye aside, skipping over a member of Congress for a U.S. Senate seat in favor of a 40 year old Lieutenant Governor is remarkable.

Akaka is retiring at the end of his term and his replacement, so Hawaii will now have two total newbies to D.C. as its only Senators.

The Governor said that he did not want to lose the seniority of the Congresswoman in the House. However, two total newbies to D.C. in the Senate is, IMO, a bigger issue for the state than losing the seniority of one of its Reps in the House.

In any event, I cannot imagine that Inouye, being who he was, made a choice for Senate that was not, in his mind, the very best overall for the state of Hawaii.

Also the gender issue should not be disregarded lightly by a party that just won seats in both houses, especially the Senate, on the basis of dumbass remarks made about women by Republicans.


Schatz, who attended and taught at the same Hawaiian school that Obama attended, headed the Obama campaign in Hawaii, but I am sure that had nothing to do with any of the above, with the possible exception of the ride to D.C. on Air Force One.