Hawaii – US Senate

Incumbent Party – Democrat

Projection – Slight Democrat Hold

Primary Date	August 11, 2012
General Date	November 06, 2012
Incumbent	Daniel Akaka
Incumbent Status	Not Seeking Re-election

Democrat Candidates:

• Ed Case
• Mazie Hirono
• Antonio Gimbernat

Republican Candidates:

• Linda Lingle
• John Carroll
• Eddie Pirkowski
• John Roco

Assessment:

With the retirement of 4 term incumbent Democrat Senator Daniel Akaka and the likely nomination of Hawaii’s former Republican Governor Linda Lingle, Hawaii will have one of its most competitive senate races in contemporary history.

Having voted  a whopping 38.00% less Republican in the 2008 presidential elections than the national average, Hawaii is the least Republican state in the nation, making Linda Lingle one of the few Republicans that Hawaii has ever elected statewide.  So between the senate being vacant and Lingle as the Republican nominee, if anyone Republican could win the seat, it would be her.

Making matters better for the G.O.P. recent polling had Mitt Romney polling quite competitively against Barack Obama whose job approval rating in Hawaii are equal to, or lower than his disapproval rating, and even though the potential Republican nominees are currently polling lower than the potential Democrat senate nominees, this race will become close enough for Republicans to possibly win.