Almost four years ago, then-state Sen. David Ige launched what looked like a very longshot Democratic primary bid against Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie. However, while Ige didn’t have much name recognition or money, Abercrombie had managed to upset pretty much every major faction in the state Democratic Party during his tenure, and Ige ended up defeating him by an astounding 67-31 margin. As Ige gets ready to seek re-election next year, it’s looking quite possible that he’ll at least need to be on guard in case another Hawaii Democrat tries to follow the Ige playbook to the governor’s office.
While Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa says he’s very likely to run for lieutenant governor, he gave a very interesting reason to Civil Beat for why he wants the job. Arakawa says that Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho “is going to run for the governor’s office, and he will be probably be the next governor,” and that Arakawa thinks he’ll work well as Carvalho’s lieutenant governor. Carvalho, who is termed-out of his current job, has yet to say anything publicly about his plans, and Arakawa doesn’t seem to have said why he thinks Carvalho will be such an electoral juggernaut.
So far, only one other notable Aloha State Democrat who has made any noises about challenging Ige. However, while state Sen. Josh Green expressed interest back in January, in recent months he’s sounded far more likely to run for lieutenant governor instead, and he came close to declaring earlier this month. Still, at the begining of the year, Green did lay out some criticism of Ige that the governor’s eventual primary challenger may echo. Green faulted the incumbent for failing to meet his promise to install air conditioners in 1,000 public schools by the end of last year as one of his major concerns, as well as the state’s long struggles with housing costs and homelessness.