Abercrombie loses almost every district in historic primary

Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Ige, little known outside of the state Capitol just six months ago, captured all but three state House districts in an unprecedented and thorough defeat of Gov. Neil Abercrombie in Saturday’s primary election.

An analysis of precinct voting data from the state Office of Elections shows Abercrombie even failed to carry his Manoa-Punahou-Moiliili home district in becoming the only governor in state history to lose in a primary.

"Obviously, it shows that this is not the result of a particular demographic," John Hart, chairman of the communications department at Hawaii Pacific University, said Sunday. "It’s across the board. Certainly when you can’t hold onto your home district of Manoa, it’s the voice of the people that they want you to do something else."

Ige’s highest margin of victory came in his hometown of Pearl City and the surrounding communities, carrying the Pearl City-Waimalu-Pacific Palisades district by a margin of 80 percent to 19 percent. His numbers in surrounding communities were similarly high, with margins of 79 percent to 20 percent in both the Pearl City-Waipio-Pearl Harbor and Halawa-Aiea-Newtown districts.

Ige thanked supporters and credited the victory to grass-roots campaigning — he was outspent 10-to-1 with a war chest of only $550,000 compared with Abercrombie’s $5 million.

"It really is about meeting voters face to face and above all listening to what they have to say and the challenges that they present, because only working together can we move this state forward," Ige said Sunday at the party’s traditional Unity Breakfast.

Ige thanked Abercrombie for taking the high road in their race and sticking to issues while also applauding the governor for forcefully rallying behind his own campaign. He pledged to carry forward many items on Abercrombie’s agenda, particularly in the areas of renewable energy, investing in infrastructure, combating homelessness and working with all levels of government.

The Democratic ticket of Ige and Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, who was nominated to continue serving, will face a three-way race in November against the Republican ticket of former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and Elwin Ahu, and Independent Party of Hawaii candidate Mufi Hannemann, the former Honolulu mayor, and Les Chang.

Data from last month’s Hawaii Poll indicated Aiona winning a three-way race.

Hart said he expects the Democratic Party to rally around Ige, bringing unions together in a strong get-out-the-vote drive over the next three months.

"I think given the polling data, Ige will be a tougher candidate to beat than Neil was," Hart said. "I do think the Hawaii Poll numbers will not hold — that Ige is going to run a lot stronger than the results."

Abercrombie threw his support behind Ige in conceding the race Saturday night and repeated that stance Sunday at the Democrats’ Unity Breakfast, a traditional post-election opportunity for primary candidates to set aside differences and rally behind the party’s slate of candidates for the general election.

"David, and everybody else who’s a candidate, you can count on me to be with you, shoulder to shoulder," he said to wild applause.

According to the analysis of precinct data, Abercrombie won only two districts, both on Maui: Lahaina-Kaanapali-Honokahau, where he won 51 percent to 47 percent, and South Maui, 56 percent to 42 percent. He also led 51 percent to 47 percent in the Hawaiian Acres-Pahoa-Kalapana district in Puna, where two precincts were closed and voting was postponed due to road closures caused by Tropical Storm Iselle.

Despite an improving economy and additional jobs from construction projects, Abercrombie has faced low approval ratings stemming from some missteps in his first year in office, including the introduction of a pension tax and a soda tax, imposing a labor contract on teachers, publicly arguing with unions that had supported him and ultimately ignoring the deathbed wish of iconic U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye in appointing his lieutenant governor, Brian Schatz, to replace the late senator instead of his preferred successor, U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.

"I think you’d have to go all the way back to the beginning of his term," Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, a fellow Manoa resident, said of Abercrombie. "He did a good job, but I think a lot of times it’s how he talked about things that created problems for him."

Former Gov. John Waihee, who publicly supported Abercrombie, said the loss resulted from a combination of things that included the first-year missteps as well as the current political climate.

"The times … this is not a good time for incumbents — nationally — and so some of that feeds into this race as well," Waihee said.

In calling for party unity in November, Abercrombie reflected on his four decades of public service and pledged to continue working for the party.

"You can count on me to be with you every step of the way, and I thank you," he said, his voice starting to quiver with emotion. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart and say to you all that my every breath, until the last I take, will be for Hawaii."

Star-Advertiser Data News Editor Dana Williams contributed to this report.

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