Call it a tale of political revenge from beyond the grave.When longtime Sen. Daniel Inouye passed away last December, he made it known in a deathbed letter that he wanted Gov. Neil Abercrombie to appoint Rep. Colleen Hanabusa as his successor. But Abercrombie passed over those wishes and instead appointed Schatz, his lieutenant governor. Now Hanabusa is challenging Schatz for a full term in 2014, and she has the backing of Inouye’s widow and his family, as well as EMILY’s List.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (which supports its incumbents), the League of Conservation Voters and former Vice President Al Gore are backing Schatz. Polling has shown a close race — a July Civil Beat Poll showed Schatz with a three point lead, 36%-33%.But an EMILY’s List poll showed Hanabusa up nine points, while an internal poll for Schatz’s campaign showed him with a narrow one-point advantage.

The winner of the primary will be the heavy favorite, though Republicans appear to be trying to make a race here, sending a staffer to the islands to help the state party. But Hawaii is a tough state for the GOP: Ex-Republican Gov. Linda Lingle lost her Senate race in 2012 by nearly 25 percentage points. …

Photo: 2012 election. (Brian Tseng)

—Chad Blair