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Tuesday, Dec 18, 2012 10:45 PM UTC

Inouye’s death leaves hole in HI political clout

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Topics: From the Wires,

HONOLULU (AP) — The death of U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye of Hawaii leaves open a seat in the Senate to be filled by a Democrat, with U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa the immediate front-runner thanks to Inouye’s wishes.

It also leaves a huge hole in terms of Hawaii’s political clout.

Inouye had represented Hawaii in Congress since statehood in 1959, first in the House and for the last 50 years in the Senate. He was the longest serving member of the Senate, and he chaired the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, helping to direct federal aid and resources to build up his still-young state, where he is revered.

One day after his death, his Senate desk on Tuesday was draped in black, with flowers and a lei. He was 88.

“Think about everything that’s happened in the last 50 years, Sen. Inouye’s had his hand on that,” said William H. Warren, assistant chair of the social sciences department at Hawaii Pacific University.

Inouye’s influence also extended beyond his legislative duties, Warren said.

“He was the person people went to when there was a problem that needed to be solved,” he said.

Inouye’s death from respiratory complications, compounded by the retirement of Sen. Daniel Akaka after 22 years, leaves Hawaii with one of the most junior congressional delegations in the country.

Three-term U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono will replace Akaka after winning the seat last month and become the first woman to represent Hawaii in the Senate, while Rep.-elect Tulsi Gabbard will be one of the youngest members of Congress, at 31. Hanabusa was just elected to her second term in the House.

Inouye’s spokesman has said it was the senator’s last wish for Hanabusa, a fellow Democrat whom he had supported during her 2010 House bid, to succeed him.

A Hanabusa spokesman declined comment, but Hanabusa, 61, a former labor attorney and state legislative leader, is seen as the early favorite. Other names that have been floated include Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz.

Inouye making clear his wishes “pretty much decides it,” political analyst Neal Milner said. “Maybe the last example we’re going to have of his political acumen was the way that he arranged that before he died.”

Colin Moore, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, said it’s unlikely that state Democrats and Gov. Neil Abercrombie would go against Inouye’s wishes. But he said that also assumes that Hanabusa wants to leave her seat.

Abercrombie will choose Inouye’s successor from a list of three candidates submitted by the state Democratic party before an election is held in 2014.

Party bylaws allow up to 21 days to submit the list, but Abercrombie has urged the party to act quickly. The next Congress is scheduled to begin Jan. 3. State law requires that candidates come from the same party as the prior office holder.

Whatever happens, Hawaii’s four-member congressional delegation will be completely transformed.

___

Follow Becky Bohrer at http://twitter.com/beckybohrerap.

More By Becky Bohrer.

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