By the time Rep. Charles Djou (R-HI) was sworn in as a Member of Congress, Democrats were on message for next November, dismissing him as a seat warmer. Victorious in a May special election, Djou became the first Republican sent to Congress from Aloha State since fmr. U.S. Rep. Patricia Saiki abandoned her seat for a respectable run for the U.S. Senate in 1990.  

At first blush, Hawaii’s First Congressional District doesn’t look like a potential Blue to Red conversion target. Obama did carry HI01 by a lopsided 70-28 percent spread, but that margin seems to be grossly distorted in favor of Honolulu’s Favorite Son. President Obama was born and spent some of his schoolboy years in this very district.