House Democrats Abandon Election in Obama's Hometown District

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the national campaign organization of House Democrats, announced today that it is pulling out of a special election in Hawaii that has turned into a major headache for the party.

"The DCCC will not be investing additional resources in the HI-01 (Abercrombie-open) special election," said DCCC spokeswoman Jennifer Crider. "Local Democrats were unable to work out their differences. The DCCC will save the resources we would have invested in the Hawaii special election this month for the general election in November."

Here's the back-story: There are two Democrats, Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa, who are seeking the seat, along with one Republican. While the district is usually safely Democratic - President Obama grew up there, and took 70 percent of the vote in 2008 - the two Democrats are splitting the special election vote, leaving GOP candidate and Honolulu city councilman Charles Djou in first place in many polls.

Democrats have been pressuring one of the Democratic candidates to drop out, but there is a split in institutional support: National Democrats have been supporting Case, a former U.S. representative, while Hawaii's two senator's backed Hanabusa, the state senate president. Hanabusa insisted last week she is "in the race until the end" despite pressure from national Democrats.

The Washington Post reports that the DCC had already spent $313,000 on ads attacking Djou, a decision they may be regretting in light of the split Democratic vote. The party organization will now save its money for the November election, when the seat one again comes up and there will be just one Democrat in the running running.

The special election takes place on May 22nd; the seat is open because former Rep. Neil Abercrombie stepped down to run for governor.