A Djou with 40 percent ayes

As Joel Mowbray anticipated here this past Friday, Republican candidate Charles Djou emerged victorious with nearly 40 percent of the vote in the special election for Hawaii’s First Congressional District. The outcome is notable because it occurs in President Obama’s home district, which hasn’t sent a Republican to Washington in a very long time. Obama carried the district with more than 70 percent of the vote in 2008.
The outcome was made possible by the split in the Democratic vote between two serious Democratic candidates, but Democratic victory is not necessarily a sure thing in November. Djou himself is an appealing candidate. Now he will get a chance to show his stuff. Moreover, as John McCormack notes, it’s not clear that Hawaii Democrats will easily unify behind the candidate who prevails in the September primary.

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