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Senator Brian Schatz Wins Close-Fought Democratic Primary in Hawaii - New York Times

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Politics |Senator Brian Schatz Wins Close-Fought Democratic Primary in Hawaii



http://nyti.ms/1vTQiBE







Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii Marco Garcia/Associated Press




PUNA, Hawaii — After nearly two years of campaigning, millions of dollars spent and one tropical storm that delayed voting in this easternmost corner of Hawaii for nearly a week, Senator Brian Schatz won the Democratic primary race for his seat on Friday, bringing one of the longest and most acrimonious primary contests in the state’s history to an apparent end.


Mr. Schatz secured victory over his challenger, Representative Colleen Hanabusa, by fewer than 1,800 votes — less than 1 percent — and only after two precincts on the east coast of the Big Island, where polling places were closed during the Aug. 9 primary election because of damage from Tropical Storm Iselle, held a delayed vote on Friday.


With Mr. Schatz leading by just 1,600 votes after the voting last weekend, several thousand voters in this rural province, long ignored by the political establishment in Honolulu, had a chance to swing the Senate race.


But the vote on Friday increased Mr. Schatz’s lead, if only slightly. The final tally announced Friday night included about 3,000 votes in this district, some of which had already been cast by mail before the storm, plus 800 votes from Maui that had been lost and not previously counted.


Mr. Schatz will now face Cam Cavasso, a Republican, in the November general election, and is very likely to retain his seat: No Republican has won a Senate race in Hawaii since 1970.


“We worked really hard, and our message came through,” Mr. Schatz said of his campaign. “We’re really gratified that Puna came through.”


Though there is no provision for an automatic recount in Hawaii, no matter how close the vote, it remained possible that Ms. Hanabusa could challenge the results in court. She had sued unsuccessfully to delay the vote Friday, arguing that thousands of residents in the area were still without electricity or running water and that many would not be able to make it to the polls.


On Friday night, Ms. Hanabusa said she had “no idea” whether she would challenge the final tally.


Dozens of local residents who said they had been trapped at home by the storm on Aug. 9 went to polling stations on Friday only to find, to their dismay, that they were not allowed to vote, because they lived in a neighboring precinct where the polls had stayed open last weekend.


“They’ve left thousands of voices out,” said Aubrey McCarroll, 38, who said his road was covered with downed albizia trees last Saturday. “It didn’t even seem safe to be out on Election Day.”


Ms. Hanabusa said it was very difficult to see voters turned away. “Their stories were heart-wrenching,” she said. “They felt so disenfranchised.”


The rivalry between Ms. Hanabusa and Mr. Schatz has been bitter since 2012, when Sen. Daniel Inouye, a war hero and Hawaii icon, died in office. Senator Inouye had asked Gov. Neil Abercrombie to appoint Ms. Hanabusa to succeed him, but Mr. Schatz was chosen instead.


Incumbency and support from the Democratic Party establishment offered Mr. Schatz a major fund-raising advantage, but Ms. Hanabusa was able to keep the race close with strong support from the Japanese-American community, a vital constituency in Hawaii politics.


Both candidates spent the week in Puna making themselves visibly useful, doling out chili to residents as well as ice, which had become a valuable commodity as those without power tried to keep food cold without refrigerators.


At the polls Friday, one voter after another said they hoped for help dealing with the albizia trees, an invasive species that dominates large swathes of unfarmed land here. They grow very tall very quickly — up to an inch a day — and topple over easily in storms. They caused most of the damage from Tropical Storm Iselle.


Richard Alger, 71, said elected officials needed to do more to deal with the trees, which had also caused damage in much less severe storms.


“They’ve watched the albizia trees grow for 25 years already, but they didn’t do anything about it,” Mr. Alger, a retiree, said. “It’s the ostrich method.”


Mr. Schatz met with scientists from the Department of Agriculture here on Monday to discuss plans for eradicating the albizia trees in the area.



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