Rep. Colleen Hanabusa still hasn’t formally announced that she’s running against Sen. Brian Schatz. But after news leaked this week that she’s going to run, the potential race is garnering some national attention this morning.

The National Journal reports that Schatz raised $285,000 of his $1.1 million from big donors who’ve given to Hanabusa is prior campaigns. The Schatz campaign is claiming that means they’ve locked down Hawaii’s big money.

Hanabusa’s camp, though, says those donors will likely end up giving to both campaigns when she begins fundraising in earnest.

(As an aside, while the $1.1 million figure is thrown around, we reported that about $300,000 of that can only used in a general election — not in a primary against Hanabusa.)

Meanwhile, Roll Call notes that Schatz had been President Barack Obama’s state spokesman during the 2008 Presidential primary, while Hanabusa backed Hillary Rodham Clinton. A Schatz spokesman thinks the campaign will be able to tap into all the people who were registered by the Obama campaign and get them to support Schatz.

— Kery Murakami