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Candidate Ed Case for US Senate
July 12, 2012
Running for: U.S. Senate, Democratic nomination
Running against: Michael D. Gillespie, Antonio Gimbernat, Mazie Hirono, Arturo Pacheco (Art) Reyes
Birthplace: Hilo, Hawaii
Profession: Attorney
Electoral Win/Loss Record: 8/3
First electoral victory: Hawaii State House of Representatives (1994)
Supports: The war in Afghanistan, environmental protection, green energy, same-sex marriage, tort reform
Opposes: Partisanship, earmarks, Bush upper income tax cuts, ANWR oil drilling
Gets campaign donations from: Retired people, law firms, securities firms, real estate industry (according to Center for Responsive Politics)
Ed Case is something of a curiosity in Hawaii. He was born on Hawaii Island (his great-grandparents left Kansas for Hawaii in 1896) and he's been in politics pretty much his entire life. He's a Democrat, but defies ideological categorization. He's long been a solid vote for all matters environmental, and yet he supported the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He supports recognizing same-sex couples' right to marriage, but would also love to restrict consumer lawsuits as part of our nation's health care reform efforts. But most unusual was his 2006 decision to trade his completely safe House of Representatives seat (Hawaii's 2nd District) for a chance to run against sitting U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka. The move infuriated the state's Democratic establishment–U.S. Senator Daniel Inouye still bristles at Case's run to this day–and Case has been banished to the political wilderness ever since.