Djou, a Honolulu City Councilman and the only major Republican in the race, has a within-the-margin-of-error lead over Democrats Ed Case and Colleen Hanabusa. He only gets 32% of the vote, but because the special election runs under no-primary, first-past-the-post rules, he would be able to win.

AFL-CIO spokesman Eddie Vale tells FDL News that this is only the beginning of a continuing campaign between now and the election, including mail, phone banks, canvassing and GOTV support. “For us the decision was based on support for working families, we think Hanabusa will be much better on those,” Vale said in an email exchange.

Hawaii’s special election format presents unique challenges for Democrats. All candidates compete in a single election, with the winner taking the seat regardless of percentages. There are two high-profile Democrats in the race and one Republican, which raises the possibility of the Democrats splitting the vote and delivering the race to Charles Djou, the Republican. This has led Democratic operatives to want to push one of the Democrats out and pave the way for a victory. However, they appear to have chosen the moderate LieberDem who is hated by the state political establishment.