Inouye Replacement Won't Be Announced This Week
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser published the letter the late Sen. Daniel Inouye wrote to Gov. Neil Abercrombie -- and reading it, it's very hard to believe Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, won't be the governor's choice to fill the Senate seat.
Here's the relevant part of the letter regarding the appointment:
"While I understand that selecting someone to serve out the remainder of my term is fully your responsibility, I respectfully request that U.S. Representative Colleen Hanabusa succeed me, and continue the work, together with Mazie, on behalf of Hawaii in the U.S. Senate. Colleen possesses the intellect, presence and legislative skill to succeed in the Senate. I have no doubt that she will represent Hawaii with the same fervor and commitment that I brought to the Senate chamber since 1962.
I hope you will grant me my last wish. God Bless the people of Hawaii and God Bless the United States of America."
But Abercrombie's official decision won't come this week -- the party, tasked with picking three nominees for Abercrombie to consider, is slated to meet and make the decision on December 28, the Star-Advertiser reports:
Dante Carpenter, the party's chairman, said Democrats hope to forward the recommendations to Abercrombie in time for the governor to make an appointment before new senators, including U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, who is replacing retiring U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, are sworn in in Washington, D.C., in early January. "That is the target to ensure that we have somebody in place for the swearing-in so we do not lose one second of potential seniority time in the U.S. Senate," Carpenter said.
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