Politics

How to Become a Senator in 19 Hours: The Brian Schatz Story

Ten days after the death of Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, the governor of Hawaii named Schatz as Inouye's replacement Wednesday night. By Thursday just after lunchtime, Joe Biden was swearing him into the famous book of Senators.

By J.K. Trotter
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Ten days after the death of Hawaii Senator Daniel Inouye, the governor of Hawaii named Brian Schatz, the state's Lieutenant Governor and a Democrat, as Inouye's replacement Wednesday night. By Thursday just after lunchtime, Joe Biden was swearing him into the famous book of Senators. The ascent of Schatz, 40, from lieutenant governor is rather charmed — according to the Washington Post, he's a non-entity outside of state-level Hawaii politics. And even in Hawaii, he wasn't always a popular figure. In a six-way race in the state's Democratic primary, in 2006, Schatz drew a piddling seven percent of the vote. In 2010, however, he won a seven-way primary for lieutenant governor, after which he joined Neil Abercrombie, who went on to win the governorship and, two years later, appoint Schatz as Inouye's successor, against the explicit wish of Inouye that Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa be appointed instead. But he's young, and the Democrats' senior leadership in the Senate is pretty senior. Schatz was sworn is just this afternoon, a remarkable turnaround not just for Schatz, but for the Senate itself:

And, yes, since you were wondering: Schatz seems to be enjoying his newfound fame:

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.