What They’re Saying

THE MAUI NEWS: “LINGLE HAS A PROVED RECORD OF BIPARTISANSHIP”
“The inauthentic attack on Lingle’s commitment to bipartisanship rings hollow as it haphazardly ignores her public record.

It ignores the bipartisan approach then-Mayor Lingle took from 1991 to 1998, securing funding from a Democratic-run council, Legislature and federal executive for numerous county improvements, including road construction projects, many of which were neglected for nearly 30 years before she took office.”

[...]

“It also ignores her eight years as our governor, where she implemented the ambitious Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative. In fact, it was because of her leadership and her mantra of “people first” that the HCEI passed through a Democratic Legislature, not as a party measure but a people-based measure.”
(The Maui News, 2/2/12)

NATIONAL JOURNAL: HOTLINE
“Winners: HI SEN’s Linda Lingle, who raised more last quarter than the Dem candidates have raised altogether. And she doesn’t have to spend it until late next year.”
(National Journal: Hotline, 2/2/12)

WASHINGTON POST: THE FIX
“We’re digging into the just-filed fourth quarter fundraising reports over here at The Fix.
And as usual, that means winners and losers time.

Here’s our initial take on who won and lost for the period spanning October through December. [...]:

Linda Lingle: The former Hawaii governor has an uphill battle in front of her in a tough state, but her Senate campaign’s initial $1.7 million haul was nearly three times her nearest competitor.”
(Washington Post: The Fix, 2/1/12)

THE POLITICO SENATE MONTHLY 10
“[...]
In the first Senate Monthly 10 of 2012 — stacking up the most competitive contests in the country:
[...]

8. Hawaii (up 1 spot)
Evidence is mounting that the Aloha State could offer the biggest surprise of the cycle. Former Gov. Linda Lingle flexed her fundraising muscles with a $1.7 million quarter. Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee was forced to push back against a Civil Beat poll showing former Rep. Ed Case leading its preferred candidate, Rep. Mazie Hirono.
Who won January: Lingle”
(POLITICO, David Catanese, 2/1/12)

HAWAII NEWS NOW: “SHOPO ENDORSES LINGLE FOR U.S. SENATE”
“Undoubtedly, public safety has always been of utmost importance to Governor Lingle and continues to be so,” said Tenari Maafala, president of the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers.

[...]

“It’s the person’s heart and the person’s mission for the people of Hawaii in totality that we look after, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican or bi-partisan,” Maafala said.
(Hawaii News Now, 1/9/11)

HOTLINE: ON CALL
As 2012 approaches, we’ve been bringing you our series of year end posts/recaps (see our Year in Media and Biggest Twitter Losers) and today, we present the top five comeback attempts of 2011 in the statewide races.

These are not limited to candidates running for an office they once held; rather they are the strongest candidates who have held another elected office and then left, either because of term limits, or because they were not reelected or left to run for higher office.

[...]

2) Former Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle: For two terms. Lingle served as governor of Hawaii. She was term-limited out of office in 2010 and almost immediately, speculation over whether she would run for the Senate surfaced.

After taking several months to mull it over, she made many national Republican strategists smile when she announced in October that she would run. She gives Republicans a pickup opportunity in a very blue state where President Obama is popular. (Hotline, 12/29/11)

CIVIL BEAT
[In response to partisan attacks, Gov. Linda Lingle stated,] “Every time politicians try to demonize me or someone else, it just shows they have no ideas of their own,” Lingle reportedly told [Adam] Nagourney. (Civil Beat, 12/22/11)

HOTLINE: SENATE RACE RANKINGS
What the Wisconsin primary is to Republicans, the Hawaii primary will be to Democrats—a minefield. (Hotline, 12/22/11)

THE HILL
Democrats, who usually have it easy in Hawaii, are in a rough patch and Republicans may win a Senate seat that has long been out of their reach. (The Hill, 12/22/11)

NEW YORK TIMES
And the Republican Party suddenly has a shot of picking up a United States Senate seat that has been in Democratic hands for more than 30 years, with the announcement by Linda Lingle, a Republican former governor, that she will seek the seat held by Senator Daniel K. Akaka, the retiring Democrat.

Still, the Republicans have in Ms. Lingle what party officials on both sides say may be the one Republican who could be elected senator from Hawaii.

Ms. Lingle said those kinds of [partisan] attacks would not work. “Anyone who tries to tar me with what’s happening at the national level will run up against the reality of my own record in Hawaii,” she said. ‘Every time politicians try to demonize me or someone else, it just shows they have no ideas of their own. (New York Times, 12/21/11)

HAWAII REPORTER
[Ed] Case, who calls this U.S. Senate race, Hawaii’s most important election in a generation, maintains if Hirono wins the Democratic primary, former GOP Gov. Linda Lingle will beat Hirono in the November general election. (Hawaii Reporter, 12/9/11)

NEW YORK TIMES
Republicans recruited former Gov. Linda Lingle, a popular figure in the state. […] With President Obama on the ballot in his native state, Democrats would ordinarily have an edge, but Ms. Lingle could change the equation. (New York Times, 11/16/11)

ROTHENBERG POLITICAL REPORT
The race in Hawaii has turned from no chance to a legitimate GOP takeover opportunity in matter of a few months. (Rothenberg Political Report, 11/4/11)

POLITICO
Linda Lingle… instantly reshapes a Senate race. The Star Advertiser dubbed Lingle’s debut “a textbook example of how a major campaign rolls out a kickoff.” Her candidacy…widens the playing field even further in 2012. (Politico, 10/28/11)

MAUI NEWS
The former governor still comes across as a pragmatist with common sense approaches to solving great problems. Her pledge to work across the aisle to tackle these problems head on is genuine. (Maui News, 10/19/11)

HAWAII TRIBUNE HERALD
Longtime Hilo resident Leilani Kalua, a self-described veteran Democrat who now favors individual candidates over party affiliation, was happy to have her picture taken with Lingle.

“I have always believed in our former governor,” Kalua said. “I feel that she was the strongest woman candidate we had in the state, and I wish her the best of luck in the Senate race.” (Hawaii Tribune Herald, 10/17/11)

HONOLULU CIVIL BEAT: Colleen Hanabusa, U.S. Representative, C.D. 1, was Hawaii Senate president during the time that Lingle was the state’s governor. Hanabusa calls Lingle an “extremely good politician” and a “formidable candidate” with an uncanny ability to connect with voters.

“The number of years that the Democrats were in complete control of the governorship and everything else, and she was able to break in,” Hanabusa said. “She was the first woman. She’s not from Hawaii… Everyone said a neighbor island mayor’s never going to win the governorship, and she did. There’s something about her that resonates.” (Honolulu Civil Beat, 10/11/11)

COOK POLITICAL REPORT: “While it’s a tough year, I think, to try and win a Senate seat with Obama at the top of the ballot, I think Lingle is about the only Republican who could do it, especially given how voters feel about Congress,” said Jennifer Duffy, a senior editor at The Cook Political Report, a national newsletter that monitors political campaigns. “They don’t seem to like them very much.”
Duffy said she could move Hawaii from a “solid Democrat” rating into “lean Democrat” or “tossup” later this week. She said Democrats typically do not have to worry about protecting Hawaii and are already spread thin nationally. “So they pretty much need another competitive race like they need a hole in the head,” she said. (Derrick Depledge, Now It’s a Race, Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 10/12/11)

WASHINGTON POST: “Republicans have landed their top recruit in the open Hawaii Senate race, with former governor Linda Lingle set to enter the race and give the GOP a chance to win in a heavily Democratic state. Lingle, a two-term governor who left office after the 2010 election, immediately becomes the frontrunner for the GOP nomination by virtue of her fundraising ability and political experience. … Lingle became Hawaii’s first elected female governor when she was first elected in 2002. She easily won reelection in 2006 with 63 percent of the vote, in part no doubt due to an uninspiring Democratic challenger. But she was broadly popular during much of her tenure.” (Aaron Blake, Former governor Linda Lingle to run for Senate in Hawaii, Washington Post, 10/11/11)

POLITICO: “Linda Lingle, Hawaii’s popular former two-term governor, will announce her candidacy for U.S. Senate Tuesday, handing Republicans their best chance at picking up the open seat. The successful recruitment of Lingle, the state’s first female governor, also further widens the playing field for the GOP, which needs to net just four seats to overtake the Senate majority in 2012.” (David Catanese, Lingle Senate bid to put Hawaii in play, Politico, 10/11/11)

THE HOTLINE: “Former Hawaii Republican governor Linda Lingle will announce she’s running for the Senate for the seat of retiring Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Her decision gives Republicans a shot at competing in the state’s open-seat race, given her past ability to win in a solidly Democratic state. … Lingle served two terms as governor from 2002 until 2010, after serving as mayor of Maui. She narrowly defeated Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, to win her first term and office and won re-election with 63 percent of the vote four years later. In the Senate race, she could face a rematch against Hirono, who is facing former Rep. Ed Case in the Democratic primary.” (Josh Kraushaar, Lingle Running For Senate In Hawaii, Hotline, 10/11/11)

LOS ANGELES TIMES: “Linda Lingle, the former governor of Hawaii, is poised to run for the U.S. Senate, giving Republicans one of their best opportunities as they seek to win control of the chamber in 2012. Lingle, 58, was the first woman to be governor of Hawaii and served two terms.” (Michael Muskal, Former Hawaii governor Linda Lingle to seek Senate seat, LA Times, 10/11/11)

USA TODAY: “Former Hawaii governor Linda Lingle, a Republican, is set to announce today that she will run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Daniel Akaka. Lingle, a two-term governor, is viewed as her party’s best chance to take a seat that’s been in Democratic hands since 1977.” (Catalina Camia, Ex-Hawaii governor Lingle to run for Senate, USA Today, 10/11/11)