Abercrombie to resign from Congress to run for governor

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie dropped an early Christmas bombshell on Hawaii: He is leaving Congress to fire up his campaign for governor full time.

In a message to supporters on the Internet yesterday, Abercrombie said he was returning to Hawaii to campaign and will resign from Congress.

The longtime Hawaii political leader said the announcement makes him "all in for Hawaii."

"We will present ambitious, achievable plans for job creation, economic recovery, educational reform, food and energy independence, public health and safety, and government efficiency," Abercrombie said.

Leaving his office of nearly 20 years gives him more time to campaign but immediately opens the door for criticism.

U.S. Sen. Dan Inouye was first to rebuke Abercrombie, saying Hawaii was losing valuable political clout.

"It leaves us a vote shy in the House at a time when major policy changes like health care reform, a war spending measure, the Akaka Bill and others are shaping up for debate and passage," Inouye said in an e-mail.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, Abercrombie's expected opponent in the 2010 Democratic primary, agreed.

"He is leaving the state in a lurch. He has become a very influential member of Congress. I think he put a lot of people in a difficult situation, including the city," Hannemann said yesterday during an interview.

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[4/14/09, posted 12/31/09] With the impatience of someone who at 70 has finally decided what he wants to do in life, Neil Abercrombie sits in his Kakaako campaign office anxious to get on with what he considers the most important campaign of his political life.

U.S. Rep. Abercrombie is leaving a 20-year career in Washington politics at the time when his Democratic Party controls Congress and when he is close enough to President Barack Obama to have been in the tight crowd along with Oprah Winfrey to celebrate the inauguration upstairs at the White House.

The battle is for governor of Hawaii, a goal more than 18 months away but one Abercrombie is already fighting.

For Abercrombie, who came to Hawaii in 1959 as a graduate student and first ran for office in 1970, the governor's race is to be his last quest.

"I have a renewed sense of energy and joy. This is my 50th anniversary of coming to Hawaii. It is as if this incredible gift has been given to me.

"Everything I have learned about Hawaii makes me who I am today, and I want to bring a culmination in this run and I feel joyous about it.

"I will be able to say I gave every bit of energy and all of my sense of aloha to this campaign, and I will be content," Abercrombie said last week in an interview with the Star-Bulletin.

Abercrombie went from being a left-wing campus orator and graduate student to serving in the state House and Senate and the Honolulu City Council before winning an office in Congress.

"He has name recognition and a well-tested political operation," said Neal Milner, University of Hawaii political scientist and ombudsman. "He is formidable."

Hannemann would be Abercrombie's strongest rival, said Milner, because the Honolulu mayor also brings a skillful campaign style and the ability to raise campaign cash to the race.

"With Abercrombie," Milner said, "you have someone who is already tested. It is not like you are suddenly going to find out something about him."

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[3/6/09, posted 12/31/09] U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie has ended political speculation by telling Washington leaders he will run for governor of Hawaii next year.

The 70-year-old Democrat has also discussed it with political supporters in Honolulu, but has not officially announced.

In November, Abercrombie told the Star-Bulletin that he had reached the “zenith” of his power in Washington, D.C., but stopped short of declaring for governor.

Since then key supporters have been meeting regularly in Honolulu to map out strategy for a possible campaign.

This morning the Associated Press in Washington reported Abercrombie told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of his intentions last night. The AP said the information came from an official who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Abercrombie’s announcement is to be made via an Internet video Sunday, according to the AP.