Former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona at the Hawaii State Capitol, May 19, 2014.

PF Bentley/Civil Beat

It’s a busy local election season and there’s a lot to report. Here’s a few political tidbits that surfaced this past week:

• Absentee ballots go in the mail this week, and voters can fill them out and send them right back. The Aug. 9 primary is exactly four weeks from today.
• The National Journal has an article about Duke Aiona titled Meet the Republican Who Could Take Hawaii Away From Democrats. “Neil Abercrombie’s unpopularity and a three-way general-election race have combined to open a rare, if narrow, path to a Republican gubernatorial win,” the journal writes.
• Because of Abercrombie’s perceived vulnerability, the Daily Kos Elections blog has moved the Hawaii governor’s race from “Likely D to Lean D.”
• The Fix blog in The Washington Post has an article naming the top 10 primaries of 2014. Two of them, amazingly, are in Hawaii: the U.S. Senate race between Brian Schatz and Colleen Hanabusa and the Democratic primary for governor between Abercrombie and David Ige.
• Schatz picked up an endorsement from Wendy Mink, the daughter of the late Patsy Mink, who represented Hawaii in the 2nd Congressional District and was co-author and lead defender of Title IX, the federal law that guarantees educational equity for girls and women.
• Donna Mercado Kim was endorsed by EMILY’s List, the nation’s “largest resource for women in politics,” which called Kim a “pro-choice, pro-education, pro-labor powerhouse legislator.” Kim also received the nod from the 13,000-United Public Workers union.
• Kim was the only one of the seven Democrats running for CD1 to skip a “speed dating” session Tuesday sponsored by the Progressive Democrats of Hawaii and Americans for Democratic Action. Kim has ducked out of several CD1 forums.
• But Kim was there Thursday for a PBS Hawaii “Insights” forum with Will Espero, Joey Manahan, Kathryn Xian, Ikaika Anderson, Stanley Chang and Mark Takai. The Magnificent Seven will all be on board for a likely final televised debate on KITV July 23.
• Schatz and Hanabusa meet next Tuesday night for a KHON-AARP Hawaii debate and Thursday for a Hawaii News Now and Honolulu Star-Advertiser debate. Then the two Senate wannabes are pau for primary debates.
• The Hawaii Construction Alliance announced its endorsement of Tulsi Gabbard for re-election in Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District. The alliance includes the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters.
• Finally, here’s a peek (below) at a documentary on Barack Obama by filmmaker Gloria Borland, who I’m told is moving back to Hawaii from D.C. for postproduction work.