Senatorial candidate Ed Case on Tuesday responded to Sen. Daniel Inouye’s statement that he lied about his intent to run for senate six years ago, saying in an email that he “called him to advise him of my candidacy shortly before I publicly announced.”
Inouye had criticized Case, who lost in the primary while running against Sen. Daniel Akaka in 2006, in an interview with the Tribune-Herald.
He said that Case had said he was not running that year shortly before opening his campaign headquarters.
Case, a former Congressman, is now running for the same seat, which Akaka is vacating.
Case said he had also spoken with Inouye about running for the Senate before he chose to run, adding that Inouye’s response at the time was “encouraging.”
“I worked closely and successfully for Hawaii with Sen. Inouye and the rest of the delegation throughout my years as Congressman, including my ‘06 candidacy,” he said. “I will do so again as senator with Sen. Inouye and other current and future Hawaii delegation members.”
In the interview, Inouye also questioned whether former Gov. Linda Lingle, who is also running for senate, would vote to repeal the health care reform bill recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Her campaign has released a statement calling for amendments to the law, but it did not make mention of a repeal.
Lingle’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
