Hawaii Senate seat rated "toss up"

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Cook Political Report is an independent, non-partisan online newsletter that analyzes elections and campaigns.

The latest 'report' shows that anyone can win Hawaii's race for the U.S. Senate.

Senior Editor Jennifer Duffy of Cook Political Report says, " with former Gov. Linda Lingle's announcement this week that she would run for the seat being vacated by Democratic Sen. Dan Akaka, this race moves from the Solid Democratic column to Toss Up."

Governor Linda Lingle just entered the race for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday. She will face former state senator John Carroll in the Republican primary.

Rep. Mazie Hirono, and former Rep. Ed Case will face off on the Democratic side.

The finance chair of the Mazie for Hawaii campaign had this to say about the report, "Multiple polls of Hawaii voters, not Washington pundits, have shown Republican Linda Lingle losing to Mazie Hirono by double digits. Apparently, some Washington political analysts have a little catching up to do regarding the decline in Lingle's popularity thanks to the super-disappointment of the Super Ferry, the Furlough Fridays that shortchanged our keiki and public schools, and Lingle's embrace of Sarah Palin over our island son Barack Obama," said Jadine Nielsen, finance chair of the Mazie for Hawaii campaign.