Harry Reid wants a replacement for the recently-deceased Senator Daniel Inouye stat. Hawai’i Governor Neil Abercrombie must select someone from three names that will be provided by the state’s Democratic Party. The Party leadership will convene at 8am on December 26th. Sen. Inouye sent a letter to Gov. Abercrombie shortly before his death in which he endorsed Rep. Colleen Hanabusa as his replacement. I think this makes it very likely that Rep. Hanabusa will wind up being the next senator from Hawai’i.
My memory may be imperfect, but I think I only contributed money to one candidate this year, and that was Rep. Mazie Hirono. She was elected to replace Sen. Daniel Akaka of Hawai’i. She would have been the first Asian-American woman in the Senate and the first (non-practicing) Buddhist in the Senate. If Hanabusa is appointed before the end of the year, Hirono will be the second in both categories.
I have a lot of respect for both Senator Inouye and Senator Akaka, but I think Hirono and Hanabusa will be significantly more progressive in both their policies and their style. According to Progressive Punch, Hirono is the 9th most progressive member of the House and Hanabusa is tied for the 103rd most progressive member of the House. Of the two, Hirono is clearly the stronger liberal, but Hanabusa’s record is quite strong. She has a better lifetime progressive score than people like Reps. Bobby Scott, Sheila Jackson-Lee, Pete DeFazio, and Dennis Kucinich.
If Hanabusa gets the nod, it will increase the infusion of estrogen into the Senate. She’ll be joining not only Mazie Hirono, but Elizabeth Warren, Tammy Baldwin, Heidi Heitkamp, and Deb Fischer. Because of the loss of Kay Bailey Hutchison and Olympia Snowe, that is only a net increase of four women, but that’s progress. Of the six new women in the Senate, five will be Democrats.
