Djou considering options as next election nears

Charles Djou, the 42-year-old former Hawaii Republican congressman, may not be tired, but today he enjoys resting.

If he is suiting up for a political campaign next year, for the moment he may as well stretch out on the sofa for what is left of a quiet summer.

His name has already been penciled in on the GOP dance cards, for U.S. House, the U.S. Senate and governor. All three offices are up in the 2014 election and so far the Hawaii GOP is blank in all three races.

"Although he hasn’t officially declared on running in 2014, we hope that he does, since we believe he has a very good chance of winning," says David Chang, Hawaii GOP chairman.

The Hawaii GOP bench is so bare it doesn’t even have splinters.

Last year, the general election candidate against Tulsi Gabbard for the 2nd Congressional District was an unemployed part-time handyman who was living out of his van — a nice fellow, but still not someone who could run a strong campaign.

Djou, an attorney, spent part of last year serving in Afghanistan as a major in the Army Reserve and part of the time running against Rep. Colleen Hanabusa for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District.

Djou picked up the most votes he has won in three contests for that seat, 96,824, but he lost.

Now Djou is still in the mulling-it-over stage, noting there is time.

"Having run three times in three years for the House, I think I don’t have to start as early as others. Having gone through the wringer several times, I am already known," Djou said in an interview.

The options before Djou are intriguing. He first won in a special election against Hanabusa and others in May of 2010, then lost his House seat to Hanabusa in November of the same year. He lost again to Hanabusa last year.

Now with Hanabusa running for the Senate, the district is without an incumbent and Djou would be a major candidate.

"With the House controlled by the Republicans, Charles — if he decides to run for his old seat — he would be able to help Hawaii tremendously, instead of having someone from Hawaii in the minority," Chang said, referring to the fact that the GOP controls the U.S. House.

If Djou decides to forgo that race, he would be the natural GOP candidate to go up against either Hanabusa or Sen. Brian Schatz in the special Senate election, the winner of which would fill out the last two remaining years of the late Sen. Daniel Inouye’s term.

With former Gov. Linda Lingle apparently out of the running for a Hawaii office next year, Djou is the only other Hawaii Republican with a large enough following to run statewide.

Or he could wait for the general election for governor. Gov. Neil Abercrombie is defending his first term against state Sen. David Ige and the winner will face a yet-to-be-determined Republican.

"I have not reached the stage yet where I have made any commitments about running for the U.S. House, or governor, or for that matter for the U.S. Senate. Or just continuing to be a normal husband and normal dad to my family," Djou said.

If not now, then when will he decide?

"I am obviously not going to make a decision before the end of the summer — maybe beginning of the next year. I haven’t made any formal decision in terms of what my timetable is," Djou said.

Recalling how when he was younger, "politics was all consuming," Djou now says he sees much benefit in "having dinner with your spouse and your children on a regular basis."

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.