It was over by the first printout. And it wasn’t even close.

In the contest for the Democratic nomination for governor, former congressman Neil Abercrombie beat former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann 59.4 percent to 37.8 percent.

Abercrombie had 134,955 votes to Hannemann’s 85,891, according to final results from the State Elections Office late Saturday evening.

“This is a great evening — this the night that we go toward a new day in Hawaii!” said an elated Abercrombie at his election night gathering at the former Comp USA location in downtown Honolulu.

In his concession speech, Hannemann said, “The people of Hawaii have spoken and are saying that Mufi, this is not your time — and I abide by that decision and by whatever Heavenly Father has in store for us in the future.”

Abercrombie now faces Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona in the Nov. 2 general election.

The Republican candidate stomped primary opponent John Carroll 93.2 percent to 4.6 percent.

It was an emotional night and a personal triumph for Abercrombie, whom many questioned for leaving Congress to return to Hawaii to run for governor. But Abercrombie said he was inspired to do so because of Barack Obama’s election as president.

Abercrombie knew Obama’s parents at the University of Hawaii.

On Saturday, at Abercrombie’s campaign celebration in downtown Honolulu, the president’s sister was on hand to congratulate “Uncle Neil.”

“This place hasn’t been this wild since my brother’s election,” Maya Soetoro-Ng told the crowd of enthusiastic Abercrombie supporters.

It was not an exaggeration. It was a cathartic experience for many in the room — but especially for Abercrombie.

The Race Turned Negative

The 2010 primary competition between Abercrombie and Hannemann was distinguished most by negative campaigning from Hannemann and his supporters that recalled the 1986 race between the candidates for the 1st Congressional District.

The candidates also wrestled over union and business endorsements, Hannemann’s experience managing a city versus Abercrombie’s connections in Washington, and differences in leadership and personal style.

But Hannemann, who is island-born and of Samoan-German ancestry, made a tactical decision to distinguish himself from the white, New York-born Abercrombie.

Comparing, Deciding

The turning point in the campaign may have been Hannemann’s mailing of a controversial campaign brochure called “Compare and Decide.”

Among other things, the flier noted that Hannemann, at 56, is 16 years younger than the 72-year-old Abercrombie, is married to a Japanese American and Abercrombie to a Caucasian, and that Hannemann has an Ivy League education compared with Abercrombie’s degree from the University of Hawaii.

The flier was mailed out not long after Hannemann’s declaration to the Carpenters Union that he shared ethnic and racial characteristics with their membership.

Unlike in 1986, Abercrombie immediately responded to Hannemann’s tactics, arguing that Hannemann was, among other things, making veiled racial claims, inappropriately comparing spouses and insulting the state’s university.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle — no fan of Hannemann — condemned Hannemann’s tactics, and U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye — who officially stayed neutral in the race but appeared to lean toward Hannemann — asked his fellow Democrats to keep the election clean.

The divisive campaigning overshadowed Hannemann’s greatest qualifications for the governorship: his executive and managerial experience.

The candidates actually differed little on most platform issues such as energy, sustainability, education and the economy.

But social issues like civil unions — Abercrombie supports them, Hannemann does not — brought religion and values into the race.

“He stood up for civil unions,” said Eileen Cain, 58, an English Teacher at Leeward Community College who voted at Kuhio Elementary polling station. “I like his stand on education. He used to teach with me at Leeward and his wife is at Manoa. They really understand the issues.”

Sulfiati Waite, 36, a student and caregiver from Moiliili who also voted outside Kuhio Elementary, said she thought Abercrombie would be a better steward of the environment “and keeping Hawaii sustainable — which it’s not.”

Taking the High Road

Voters ultimately were turned off by the negativity and found Abercrombie’s take-the-high-road approach more palatable. Hannemann, in part because of his early financial edge, appeared to be the favorite, with Abercrombie the underdog.

But, while Hannemann bought bold full-page ads in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Abercrombie supporters peppered the paper with small, simple ads with a clear message: “Mufi is for Mufi, Neil is for US.” The ads seemed to underscore the David vs. Goliath picture Abercrombie was trying to paint.

Hannemann — who never led in the polls and whose fundraising fell behind Abercrombie’s during the last two months — never recovered from his blunders, and a last-minute negative hail Mary pass never materialized, though Abercrombie insiders said they were prepared for it.

Perhaps Hannemann decided to exit as gracefully as possible to keep his career options open down the road.

“I want you to know that I just had a wonderful conversation with Democratic nominee for governor, Neil Abercrombie,” he told his supporters Saturday night. “Gail and I told him we wish him the best and we’re going to support him.”

Abercrombie, meanwhile, looked ahead while making direct connections to the past.

“Over 40 years ago, John Anthony Burns told us that we needed to catch a wave,” he said. “And in 2008, a great wave came from Hawaii and went all across the United States of America with the election of Barack Obama. And now in 2010, a new wave of hope and change is coming to Hawaii and it starts tonight!”

Democrats Numerical Superiority

Hannemann had hoped to get Republicans to “cross over” and vote Democrat in the primary as is allowed by state law.

But local GOP Chairman Jonah Kaauwai responded by pleading with conservative voters to stick with Aiona — and going overboard by calling the Catholic Aiona a more “righteous” candidate than the Mormon Hannemann.

Gov. Lingle also urged her party to vote the party line (though not for religions reasons).

In the end, though, Hannemann — a fiscal and social conservative — may have been doomed running against a dyed-in-the-wool liberal like Abercrombie in a primary that requires voters to select only one party to vote for.

Alhough Hannemann had the support of major labor unions and the business establishment, his views on social issues that have divided the electorate in recent years — civil unions, gay marriage, gambling, doctor-assisted suicide — were far more in line with the Republican Aiona than most Democrats.

A Civil Beat poll showed that Democrat voters favored Abercrombie by a 2-1 margin. Abercrombie also did better among independents.

But Hannemann bested Abercrombie 40-23 percent when it came to Republican voters.

Despite electing a handful of Republicans to high office, Hawaii remains dominated by Democrats.

A total of 224,337 voters picked a Democrat in the governor’s primary, compared with only 42,323 who went Republican.

(Between them, three other Democrats running for governor picked up 3,491 votes.)

The general election results will likely not be as lopsided, though the early odds are with Abercrombie, who has led Aiona in polling matchups all year. That’s what recent electoral history suggests.

For example, in the 2006 gubernatorial primary, incumbent Lingle received only 31,275 votes while the Democrat nominee Randall Iwase got 119,058. Yet Lingle would swamp Iwase in a landslide in the general election.

Two independent candidates will also be on the governor’s ballot this fall, vying for a job that pays a salary of $117,312.

Completing the Ticket

In the lieutenant governor race, Brian Schatz, a former legislator and chairman of the Democratic Party of Hawaii, defeated five other prominent Democrats and another lesser-known Democrat.

Schatz took 34.7 percent of the vote. His closest challenger was former state Sen. Bobby Bunda, who had 19.3 percent. State Sen. Norman Sakamoto finished third with 18.3 percent.

In the Republican primary, Lynn Finnegan, the minority leader in the state House, easily won over Adrienne King, 59.9-26.9 percent.

While voters are traditionally much more interested in the top of a ticket, the second spot could be a factor in the general election’s outcome.

As with presidential elections, Hawaii voters like to see “balance” in a ticket.

In this case, the Aiona-Finnegan pairing features a non-haole male and female with shared religious and politically conservative views. Both have youthful appearances — Aiona is 55, 15 years older than Finnegan — and both were born in Hawaii.

Abercrombie and Schatz, white males 35 years apart in age, share similarly traditional Democrat positions. Both were born on the mainland, though Schatz moved here at age 2 and Abercrombie has had residency since a month after statehood.

Given the role of race, religion, gender and birthplace in the primary election, the issues could surface in the general.

Then again, considering how it all backfired against Hannemann, both tickets may elect to stick with the issues.

It sure seemed to work for Neil Abercrombie.

“Mayor Hannemann has said it eloquently and graciously that this election is not about me,” the nominee said. “It’s not about him. It’s not about the lieutenant governor of Hawaii Duke Aiona. This is about the people of Hawaii and a new vision for Hawaii’s future.”