Senate candidates get different results in early polling

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - The Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate are hanging on very different information.  More than a year from the primary the campaigning is well underway. Daniel Inouye was in the Senate for five decades.  He was the second longest serving Senator in U.S. history so filling his seat is no small feat.

The race is already getting some national attention with an article in Politico about dueling poll results.  On one side Brian Schatz's polling has him up by a point overall and up by 13 with those that know both candidates.

On the other side Colleen Hanabusa's polling earlier this year showed she is up by double digits.  Mix in a couple other polls and results are all over the map.

"I wouldn't believe any of them. They're dueling polls on both sides," said Richard Borreca, Star Advertiser Political Columnist.

Then mix in the highly unscientific world of social media and it varies even more.  Brian Schatz has more than twice as many likes on Facebook.  But Colleen Hanabusa has slightly more Twitter followers when you combine the official and campaign accounts.

"This is not going to be an easy win for either candidate and they know it and these polls show it," said Borreca.

Polling is not however talking about the Republican opposition, mainly because they are still considering candidates. Cam Cavasso, who challenged Senator Inouye last election plans to run again.

The Senate race is admittedly not a realistic seat for the GOP.

"Even though our party isn't where we'd like it to be I think we've made a good turn by getting rid of our debt. Now we're moving forward by recruiting some good candidates we have a lot of younger, new representatives," said David Chang, Hawaii Republican Party Chairman.

Both sides should also release their fundraising efforts soon. The last reporting period which ended in March showed Schatz had raised more than a million dollars to Hanabusa's $225,000.

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