2010 Special Congressional Election
On March 29, 2009, Case announced his candidacy for Congress to represent Hawaii's 1st congressional district being vacated by Neil Abercrombie. His main opponents were fellow Democrat Colleen Hanabusa and Republican Charles Djou. Both Case and Hanabusa represented different wings of the party, Case being a conservative Blue Dog Democrat, while Hanabusa is preferred by the liberal wing. Hanabusa secured the endorsement of EMILY's List, the local party establishment, and local labor unions. Case was at odds with the party establishment over his primary challenge to U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka in 2006 when he was still Representative of the 2nd district.
Both Case and Hanabusa proposed that the other drop out for the sake of party unity. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) dispatched an aide to the state in the hopes of at least ensuring no other Democrats enter the race. It was unlikely either Democrat would drop out; both represented different views and both already faced off in a 2002 special election for Hawaii's 2nd congressional district, which Case won. On May 10, 2010, the DCCC said it would not spend any further resources on the race, preferring to save those resources for the November election.
The election was held on May 22, 2010. Djou became the first Republican to win a Hawaii congressional election since 1988. He won with a plurality of 39% of the vote. Hanabusa came in second with 31% and Case came in third with 28% of the vote.
Case initially said he would run in the next primary against Hanabusa, but later changed his mind and dropped out of the race, citing party unity and his third-place finish.
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