Frustration over the obstacles faced by survivors of soldiers killed in Afghanistan seeking benefits during last year’s federal government shutdown helped persuade former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou to enter the Republican primary for the seat he once held.

"It struck me that this easily could have been my family going through this,"Djou said on a morning radio program Thursday as he formally announced he is seeking the 1st Congressional District (urban Honolulu) seat. "And I think it is representative of how incredibly dysfunctional our government has become."

Djou, 43, is a major in the Army Reserve and served in Afghanistan.

The only Republican to publicly announce he will seek the office, Djou said there is a need for "leaders who are going to put people before party."

Djou spent about six months on Capitol Hill after winning a special election for the 1st District seat in May 2010 after then-U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie’s decision to resign to run for governor. That fall, however, Djou lost a race for a full term to current incumbent Colleen Hanabusa, and then again in a 2012 rematch.

Hanabusa is forgoing re-election this year to challenge U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

Djou has also served on the Honolulu City Council and in the state House of Representatives.

A crowd of candidates in the Democratic primary includes City Council members Ikaika Anderson, Stanley Chang and Joey Manahan; state Senate President Donna Mercado Kim; state Sen. Will Espero; state Rep. Mark Takai; and community activist Kathryn Xian.

A February poll sponsored by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now showed Kim as the front-runner in the Democratic primary, with Takai about 10 points behind. Chang and Anderson came in third and fourth, respectively.