Hawaii's Dems move to draft shortlist for Inouye’s Senate seat

The Hawaiian Democratic Party is moving quickly to develop a shortlist of potential successors for Sen. Daniel Inouye’s (D-Hawaii) seat, following the senator’s sudden death.

Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Dante Carpenter said he had already been contacted by a number of Hawaii Democrats interested in the seat and that party officials had already begun the process of collecting applications in the state’s counties. Democrats must submit three possible Democratic appointees for the seat to Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D), who will choose a replacement to serve until a special election is held in 2014. One of Inouye’s final acts was to send a letter to Gov Abercrombie urging him to appoint Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) as his successor