CELEBRATE FOR THE MOMENT – AT 10:04 A.M. ET:  A Republican has won a special congressional election in Hawaii, giving Mr. Obama's home state its first GOP representative in 20 years.  The winner will fill out the term of Neil Abercrombie, who resigned to run for governor.  There will be a rerun in November, for a full term.

There's a big asterisk here.  The district is heavily Democratic, and the Dems couldn't agree on a candidate, so two ran, splitting the Democratic vote.  That won't be true in November.

Republican Charles Djou won a special congressional election in Hawaii Saturday night, giving the GOP a boost as it attempts to retake the U.S. House in the November elections.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in an emailed statement, conceded the defeat shortly after the preliminary results of the race were released Saturday night. The Democrats hope to win back the seat in the regular November election.

With most votes counted, the 39-year-old Honolulu city councilman led the field with 39.5% of the vote. Behind him were two Democrats: Hawaii state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, with 30.8%, and former Congressman Ed Case, with 27.6%.

So, we can celebrate now, but please note that the combined Dem vote is more than 58%.  Djou has a pretty high mountain to climb in November.

May 23, 2010