Preaching a message of unity, former Gov. Linda Lingle urged party faithful to back her and other Republicans in the fall to help overcome majority Democrats in Hawaii and in the U.S. Senate.

“This election is about the people of Hawaii, not about our politicians,” Lingle, who is running for the U.S. Senate, told  a friendly crowd of about 350 today at the state Republican Convention in Waikiki.   “It is about having a balanced, two-party system of government that works in bi-partisan fashion to come up with the best ideas to make Hawaii greater than it already is.”

Republicans are meeting to elect delegates to the National Republican Convention, adopt the state party’s platform and elect their national committeeman and committeewoman.

Lingle was among the keynote speakers, along with former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou, who is running for the 1st Congressional District seat he held for seven months in 2010.

Lingle is in the GOP primary against former state lawmaker and retired Air Force pilot John Carroll.

Carroll did not attend the convention out of protest, because he was told he would not receive equal stage time as Lingle, his campaign manager said.

“We were told there would be no campaigning from the podium,” Carroll campaign manager Keith Rollman said. “We believe that line was crossed.”