In Our Opinion: Nobody likes a quitter

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie handed the state a million-dollar bill when he decided this month that he will resign Feb. 28 so he can focus on his gubernatorial campaign.

This career move will leave 600,000 urban Honolulu residents without representation until an election can be held to fill his seat.

When voters returned Abercrombie to the House in 2008, it was with an expectation that he would fight on our behalf for the full two-year term set to expire in January 2011. Instead, he has bailed less than halfway through. This is disappointing news on multiple fronts, but reality.

The question quickly became: How does the cash-strapped state Office of Elections find $925,000 for an all mail-in special election (or $1.2 million with walk-in voting)? Blind luck.

Some $1.3 million is reportedly available because of a recently discovered accounting error. The money was distributed to Hawai‘i by the federal government in 2003 to reimburse the state for new voting machines, but it was put into the wrong account. How convenient.

Abercrombie wasn’t going to give up his seat before the 2008 election —  before he knew that President Obama and a Democrat-controlled Congress would be in position to pipe millions of federal dollars across the Pacific to the Islands (one of the main reasons he told us he is running for governor this year).

We can appreciate the logistical challenges of fundraising and campaigning for governor in Hawai‘i while working and living in Washington, D.C. Mainland representatives and senators can much more easily travel home on weekends to spend time in their districts.

The clock is ticking too. Candidates seem geared for a likely May 1 special election, but if officials don’t agree then it would be put off until the regularly scheduled primary on Sept. 18.

It’s rapidly shaping up to be a tough fight. The top challengers in the race to fill Abercrombie’s seat include Republican Charles Djou and Democrats Colleen Hanabusa, Ed Case and possibly Will Espero. (In the race for governor, Republican Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona seems to be the GOP favorite to run against Abercrombie, who could face a tough primary battle against Democratic Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman).

Abercrombie’s unfortunate decision to quit Congress early leaves us in a bind, both financially and representationally. But the choice has brought to light some interesting points in state election law, such as why Hawai‘i doesn’t have a system that allows its governor to appoint, at least temporarily, replacements to certain positions.

Some might complain that Republican Gov. Linda Lingle would presumably appoint a fellow member of her party to replace Abercrombie, an elected Democrat, but all Hawaiians should recognize that it’s better to have more representation in the federal government than less, even if your representative doesn’t share all your views.

Our members of Congress are still bringing home the bacon and fighting for your homeland. With our limited number in D.C. already, we need all the representation we can get.

The state Legislature, which convened in session on Wednesday and is off to a busy first week, should take the time to correct this oversight. The action could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars while ensuring that hundreds of thousands of residents don’t wind up watching the days pass by without representation. (This would be an all-too-familiar scenario to what is happening in Hawai‘i’s public schools. Instead of furlough Fridays, we’ll call it a congressional cacophony in absence major.)

To be clear, generally speaking we don’t have anything against Abercrombie running for governor of Hawai‘i. This is certainly not an endorsement for other similarly worthwhile candidates.

We simply question if his decision to step down next month as a congressman was wise given the financial and representational strings that come attached.