Lt. Governor Wins Primary in Bid to Succeed Ariyoshi

Lt. Gov. John Waihee defied pollsters to win the Democratic nomination to succeed his boss, Gov. George Ariyoshi, and will face Republican D. G. (Andy) Anderson in November.

State law prevented Ariyoshi from seeking a fourth consecutive elected term. He is only the third person to fill the office since Hawaii was admitted as the 50th state in 1959.

A Honolulu newspaper poll published six days before Saturday’s primary election showed Waihee 21 percentage points behind former U.S. Rep. Cecil L. Heftel. But Waihee defeated Heftel by more than 20,000 votes, a margin of nearly 10%.

Waihee had Ariyoshi’s support but not his formal endorsement.

The same Honolulu Advertiser poll, pitting each of the three leading Democrats in the gubernatorial primary against Anderson, a former state senator, also showed Waihee trailing.

Vote Totals

In final results, Waihee had 105,579 votes, or 45.4%, to Heftel’s 83,939, or 36.1%. Former U.S. Rep. Patsy T. Mink was third with 37,998 votes, or 16.3%, and four other Democrats picked up the remaining votes.

On the Republican side, Anderson had 38,790 votes, or 94.6%, against Wayne Thiessen’s 1,277 votes, or 3.1%. Two other candidates had less than 1,000 votes each.

Mufi Hannemann, a former White House fellow on the staff of Vice President George Bush, edged state Sen. Neil Abercrombie for the Democratic nomination for urban Honolulu’s 1st Congessional District seat, vacated when Heftel resigned to run for the governor’s office.

Hannemann defeated Abercrombie by slightly more than 1,000 votes, with more than 121,000 votes cast, for a margin of 1 percentage point. Hannemann will face Republican Patricia Saiki and Libertarian Blase Harris in the general election.

Special Election

In a separate special election to fill the remainder of Heftel’s current term, Abercrombie defeated Saiki, Hannemann, two other Democrats and Harris.

Abercrombie led Saiki by fewer than 1,000 votes. Hannemann was third.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye was unopposed in the Democratic primary. He will face Republican Frank Hutchinson, a retired Marine Corps major who defeated Waikiki pedicab driver Marvin Franklin for the nomination.

Hawaii’s other congressman, Democrat Daniel K. Akaka, and his Republican opponent, Molokai rancher Maria Hustace, both were unopposed in the primary.