New Hawaiian U.S. Senator To Be Named On Wednesday

[Tx4obama]

New Hawaiian Senator To Be Named On Wednesday

Hawaii will get a new senator on Wednesday to replace Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), who passed away last week. Inouye, 88, was the longest serving member of the Senate and third in line for the presidency. Gov. Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) announced on Christmas Eve that he would appoint a replacement for Inouye’s seat, after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) pressed him to act quickly before the so-called fiscal cliff negotiations. Once Inouye’s seat is filled, Democrats will have a 53 vote majority in the Senate. Inouye’s replacement will serve a two-year term as the state’s senior senator. -snip-

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/12/25/1376431/hawaiian-senator-replacement-to-be-named-on-wednesday/

[Tx4obama]

1. So ...

... who ever is appointed (and sworn in before January 3rd) will have more seniority than Senator-Elect Hirono,
therefore Hirono would not be the senior senator even though she was elected before the new appointment.

And IF Hanabusa is appointed then Hirono would not be the first Asian-American woman and the first Buddhist in the United States Senate - Hanabusa would be.

That's all a bit wacky.

[davidpdx]

2. It is a bit wacky

And if it weren't necessary, I'm sure out of respect they could wait until the 4th to do it. Actually whoever is appointed will jump seniority over all the new senators who were just elected.

With the number of long time senators who have retired, died or becoming SOS (Kerry) there are some other senators who have gained a nice bump in seniority. Senator Wyden in Oregon was 28th and will be under 20 now. We haven't had someone that high in seniority since Hatfield and Packwood were senators.

[Tx4obama]

4. And Kerry will not have to resign his seat until The Senate confirms him as SoS...

... so who ever is appointed to his seat will have the least seniority and be at the bottom of the list.

[davidpdx]

6. That sucks

To have two seats turn over so close together that both of the Senators in HI and MA will have pretty low seniority.

The problem is many of those senators stay in office until they die. If one of the state's senators dies close to the time the other one is up for reelect then it's a double whammy.

[dsc]

3. they could fix it by having akaka resign

appoint Hirono, and then appoint Hanabusa.

[Tx4obama]

5. New news ...

Star-Adv Politics ?@starpolitics

Hawaii Democrats recommend U.S. Rep. Hanabusa, Lt. Gov. Schatz, and DLNR deputy director Kiaaina to replace the late U.S. Sen. Inouye.

https://twitter.com/starpolitics/status/284045003209179136

The Governor has to pick one of those three.