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Honolulu City Councilman Breene Harimoto said he is “seriously considering” forgoing a re-election bid to instead seek state Sen. David Ige’s seat representing the 16th District (Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea) next year.
Harimoto, 59, told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday that he will make an announcement soon, although he gave no timeline. He is a Democrat.
Ige announced last month that he is leaving the Legislature after 27 years to challenge incumbent Gov. Neil Abercrombie in his re-election bid.
If he chooses to run for the Senate, Harimoto would be the third of the nine Council members to seek another office.
Colleagues Ikaika Anderson and Stanley Chang are running for the 1st Congressional District seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, who is stepping away from a re-election bid to challenge U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.
Chang is forgoing a re-election bid to run for the congressional seat, while Anderson is making his challenge from the safe harbor of incumbency since his Council term is not up until 2016.