Schatz’s edge in the primary came despite a resounding defeat for his benefactor. | AP Photos Hawaii primary too close to call

HONOLULU — The Democratic Senate primary in Hawaii was too close to call Sunday morning, with the incumbent clinging to a slight lead and residents in a pair of storm-ravaged precincts yet to cast their ballots.

With all but two of the state’s 247 precincts reporting, Sen. Brian Schatz had a 1,635-vote advantage over Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, 49.3 percent to 48.6 percent, according to The Associated Press.


Schatz’s narrow edge in the Senate primary came despite a resounding defeat for his political benefactor, as Democrats here delivered an overwhelming rebuke to the man who appointed Schatz, Gov. Neil Abercrombie. The governor was defeated by a little-known state senator, David Ige.

But the voting isn’t over. The two precincts outstanding weren’t open on Saturday, and the more than 8,000 voters in areas of the Island of Hawaii that suffered the most devastation from Tropical Storm Iselle late last week will have the option of voting by mail over the coming weeks if they didn’t take advantage of early voting. That could lead to a frenzied push by both camps to corral voters in those areas — though Hanabusa would have to win the vast majority of the mail ballots, plus any remaining absentee ballots, to catch Schatz.

( Full primary results here)

“If that’s what it comes to, we will get out there,” Schatz told Honolulu’s ABC affiliate, KITV. “I think we’re gonna regroup in the morning. … We feel really good. We’re not quite celebrating because it’s not quite over, but we’re really pleased with our lead.”

Hanabusa said she had no idea what would happen in the two remaining precincts but pledged an intense get-out-the-vote effort.

“This election is not over. It is far from over,” Hanabusa told supporters Saturday night. “No one’s gonna call this election because anything can happen.”

Abercrombie, seeking a second term, was crushed by Ige. Even a late-campaign radio ad by President Barack Obama, who grew up on the islands and remains popular here, couldn’t reverse Abercrombie’s slide. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Ige led 67 percent to 32 percent, more than doubling Abercrombie’s total despite being vastly outspent during the race.

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“Part of our democracy is the rough-and-tumble of electoral politics,” Abercrombie told staff and supporters in private remarks after his defeat. “I’ll be taking my leave of electoral politics this evening.”

Abercrombie quickly threw his support to Ige, telling campaign staff, “We need to work together, stick together, be together to move Hawaii forward, and he can count on me to do that.”

But some of his backers worried that Abercrombie’s ouster could embolden Republicans, who have their eye on regaining the seat they held for two terms last decade.

“I anticipate that the Republicans, nationally, are smelling blood,” Randy Iwase, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2006, told POLITICO at Abercrombie’s election-night event.

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Unlike the governor’s race, either Schatz or Hanabusa will be a heavy favorite to retain the Senate seat.

Abercrombie’s ouster — and the potential for more upheaval with the Senate primary still in doubt — is particularly shocking in a state with a long history of reelecting its officeholders. In fact, Abercrombie — who represented the state in Congress for 20 years before winning the governor’s race four years ago — became the first of the state’s seven governors to serve fewer than two terms since 1962, when its founding governor, William Quinn, lost reelection.

Ige, who was badly outspent and entered the race with little name recognition, will face Republican Duke Aiona, a former lieutenant governor under Gov. Linda Lingle, who ran the state from 2002 to 2010. Former Democratic Honolulu mayor Mufi Hannemann is running as an independent. Early polls show a close contest between Ige and Aiona, with Hannemann drawing a smaller but potentially decisive share of the vote.

Separately, in a seven-way primary in the Honolulu-based House district Hanabusa vacated to run for Senate, state Rep. Mark Takai won the Democratic nod to face former Rep. Charles Djou in the November election.

The Senate election is only for the two years remaining on the term of late Sen. Daniel Inouye. Abercrombie’s choice of Schatz to fill the seat after Inouye’s passing in December 2012 was controversial; Inouye had sent a deathbed letter to Abercrombie, asking him to appoint Hanabusa to the seat. But Abercrombie — seeking to put his own mark on a state party dominated by Inouye, who had served in Congress since statehood in 1959 — instead tapped Schatz, his then-40-year-old lieutenant governor.

Inouye’s family campaigned for Hanabusa during the primary — and Abercrombie ended up in hot water earlier this year when he suggested, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, that the Inouye letter was less than authentic.

“I’m sure that for those who are loyal supporters of Sen. Inouye, what Neil Abercrombie did was something they could not forgive, despite his accomplishments,” said Iwase.

Schatz’s relationship to the now-outgoing governor runs deep, but the Schatz campaign says that his squeak-ahead lead — even in the face of Abercrombie’s drubbing — is evidence of just how much they had to outrun the governor’s unpopularity.

Both races also laid bare Hawaii’s historic ethnic divisions: The incumbents, Abercrombie and Schatz, are Anglo, while the challengers are Americans of Japanese ancestry.

“There’s no question that ethnicity is still a factor in Hawaii politics. But it’s not the only factor,” said Karl Rhodes, a white state representative who spoke with POLITICO at the senator’s election-night gathering, held at an outdoor pedestrian mall near Honolulu City Hall. Schatz supporters snacked on trays of pizza, Chinese food and slices of watermelon.

“There was a lot of anger at Abercrombie” over the Senate appointment, Rhodes added. “I did vote for him, and I did support him. I wasn’t knocking on doors for him. But I got an earful from a lot of people about how they just couldn’t stand him.”

Saturday’s election came a day after Tropical Storm Iselle soaked the state and disrupted the final days of the campaign. Though there had been some discussion of delaying the vote or extending polling hours — especially as a second storm, Julio, approached — the islands largely avoided serious damage. Weather on Saturday was largely clear, and local news reported few interruptions at the polls. However, storm preparations derailed the candidates’ final pitches to voters and led to a subdued finish to an otherwise hard-fought campaign.

Cheney reported from Arlington, Virginia.