Neil Abercrombie, the former Democratic governor of Hawaii, called for Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to resign from office if she wishes to continue her presidential bid.
Abercrombie, 81, said in a press conference on Monday that Gabbard has shown she cannot represent Hawaii’s 2nd District and run for president at the same time. Gabbard, 38, entered the Democratic presidential primary in January.
The Hawaii Army National Guard major has already said she will not run for reelection for her House seat. Despite the pledge, Abercrombie said that Gabbard should resign mid-term and let the governor call a special election to replace her.
“The bottom line for me is simple,” Abercrombie told Politico in a phone call after his announcement. “I believe that the only really honorable thing to do and sensible thing to do and politically forthright thing to do is to resign the seat, let us have a special election and then see whoever wins that seat whether they can do a good enough job to win a primary in August and a general election next November.”
Abercrombie noted that Gabbard has missed 85% of House votes since October. Last week, Gabbard voted “present” on two articles of impeachment against President Trump. Both articles passed with almost exclusively Democratic support. One independent, Justin Amash of Michigan, supported the articles.
Abercrombie said Gabbard’s choice to vote “present” reinforced his decision to call for her to resign.
The former governor also served in the U.S. House as a representative of Hawaii from 1993 to 2010. He became Hawaii’s seventh governor in 2010 and served until 2014. He is a co-chairman of state Sen. Kai Kahele’s campaign to claim Gabbard’s House seat.
