The race to finish out the term of Hawaii’s late Senator Daniel Inouye is too close to call and is not likely to be decided until several more weeks, reports Time.
Rep. Colleen Hanabusa trails Lt. Governor Brian Schatz by just 1635 votes, 113,800 to 112,165, according to results posted by the Office of Elections.
Still outstanding are the results from 8,000 eligible voters who live in a pocket of Hawaii severely impacted by the storms. They were allowed to vote by absentee ballots via mail in the coming weeks.
“We feel very good about where we are,” Schatz told supporters and KITV, according to USA Today. “This is not how we drew this thing up, but it’s a pretty good night for us. I could not be more honored. We’ll wait for the final results.”
“We may not be leading at this point in time,” Hanabusa told KITV. “This campaign is a winner.”
Hanabusa was Inouye’s choice to succeed him, but Governor Neil Abercrombie went against the Senator’s wishes and appointed Schatz instead until an election could be held. Schatz has been endorsed by President Obama.
Meantime, the Governor was trounced in the primary by State Sen. David Ige, 66% to 31%.
