On Monday, Harimoto told Civil Beat he is “seriously considering” a run at Hawaii Sen. David Ige’s seat at the Capitol.

Ige, of course, is giving up his spot in the Senate to take a shot at governor, where he’ll compete in the 2014 Democratic primary against incumbent Neil Abercrombie.

Assuming Harimoto runs, it’s a way for him to take his political career to a new level. He won a seat on the City Council after a stint with the Hawaii Board of Education.

Council seats have term limits. And even though Harimoto could choose to run for another four-year term, open seats in the state Senate — where there are no term limits — don’t come along all that often.

The big question now is, Who would run for Harimoto’s District 8 seat should he decide to run? One political heavyweight some are whispering about is former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who previously represented Aiea and Pearl City at Honolulu Hale.

Now, that doesn’t mean Hannemann will actually run for anything. His name is usually always thrown out whenever there’s an open seat somewhere. Some are even saying he’s considering another stab at Congress. (Hannemann did not return a call from Civil Beat Monday.)

Meantime, Harimoto said he’ll make an official announcement about his decision soon.

Photo: Breene Harimoto (Courtesy of jdnx via Flickr)

—Nick Grube and Chad Blair