HILO — Former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, in his Hilo hometown Thursday for a fundraiser, renewed his call for U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono to debate him prior to the August primary for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
HILO — Former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, in his Hilo hometown Thursday for a fundraiser, renewed his call for U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono to debate him prior to the August primary for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
In an interview with West Hawaii Today at his Keawe Street campaign headquarters, Case listed a half dozen debates or joint appearances he and Hirono have been invited to. He’s accepted every one, he said, including one to appear at a function sponsored by the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce, and another sponsored by the Hotel and Lodging Association for debates in Waikoloa and Honolulu.
“They have consistently refused to do any for three months now,” Case said, adding that a big part of being in Congress is to “discuss, debate, defend and sift through” information and concepts.
“If one doesn’t want to do that, or can’t do that, then don’t apply for the job,” Case said.
The Hirono campaign in an email Thursday said there’s still plenty of time to debate before the Aug. 11 primary.
“Of course we will have debates and Congresswoman Hirono has said all along that she looks forward to them,” said campaign manager Betsy Lin. “The Democratic primary will be held in August; we’ve been receiving and reviewing invitations, and will be announcing debate specifics soon.”
The winner will face likely GOP primary winner and former Gov. Linda Lingle on Nov. 6. The Senate seat is being vacated by Democrat Sen. Daniel Akaka, who is retiring after 22 years in the Senate and 13 years in the House.
Case said debates are especially important for the Senate. Because every state has two senators, while U.S. representatives are allocated based on population, Hawaii is on equal footing with other states in the upper chamber of Congress. During his tenure in Congress, Case said he’s seen some representatives on “cruise control,” going through the motions while being out of touch with constituents.
“The U.S. Senate is not a cruise job,” he said.
Case said the top three areas of debate for him would be his three priorities: fixing Congress through campaign finance reform and changes to rules for filibustering and the like, growing the economy through reforming the tax code, stimulating technology industries, loosening trade restrictions and retooling education and balancing the budget by focusing on both the revenue and expenditure sides.
As for earmarks, Case said they are necessary because the elected representative is better able than a federal bureaucrat to know what the district needs. But earmarks have gotten out of control over the past few years, growing from 1 percent or 2 percent of the budget 10 years ago to 3 percent or 4 percent of the budget today, he said.
Case in 2006 ran afoul of senior Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye when he chose not to run for re-election to his congressional seat and instead challenged Akaka for Senate. He lost the primary 53 percent to Akaka’s 46 percent. In 2010, he entered a three-way special election for the 1st Congressional District, splitting the Democratic vote and resulting in a win for the Republican, Charles Djou. He then left the September 2010 election, allowing fellow Democrat Colleen Hanabusa to return the seat to Democratic control.
Hirono won election to Case’s 2nd Congressional District seat and has been re-elected twice.
She’s also served as deputy attorney general for the state and in 1980, was elected to the state House. In 1994, Hirono was elected and served two four-year terms as Hawaii’s 9th lieutenant governor under Gov. Ben Cayetano.