It's not easy to win a House race when you're a Democrat running, not just against a Republican, but a fellow Democrat as well. That's exactly what Democrats are finding out in Hawaii, where two of their own, former Rep. Ed Case and state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, figure to split the Democratic vote in a three-way May 22 special election with Republican Hawaii City Council member Charles Djou.
The party establishment in Washington has sided with Case, and things have gotten pretty ugly. The Case campaign circulated a Democratic National Committee poll showing Case in the lead, and, in an e-mail to supporters, the campaign offered up this quote:
"It is clear from this data -- as from all the public polling - that Ed Case is the best chance that our party has of holding on to that seat," said a senior White House official.
Well, Hanabusa is evidently unfazed: she's not getting out of the race anytime soon. She held a press conference yesterday and said she's in the race "'til the end," Tim Sahd reports at Hotline OnCall.
So Hawaii's race will remain a three-way contest, and it's likely, as recent polling indicates, that the Republican Djou will win. Which won't be the end of the world for Democrats, since they will probably re-take this mostly Democratic district in November, when the winner of this special election will have to defend his or her seat. But it's the district where President Obama was born and raised, and right now it looks probably that it will be under GOP control for at least a few months.
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