Gov. Josh Green has appointed Cross Makani Crabbe to the vacant District 22 Senate seat.
The move comes after Green tried to resist naming a successor because he worried it would interfere with the primary election on Aug. 8.
When Sen. Maile Shimabukuro resigned from her West O‘ahu seat in May, Green had 60 days to appoint someone to replace her for the remaining months of her term. He had to choose from the three names given to him by the state’s Democratic Party, since Shimabukuro was a Democrat.
The party put forward state Rep. Cedric Gates, former Rep. Stacelynn Eli and Cross Makani Crabbe. However, they are all currently running for office in the August election.
Earlier this month, Green explained it would be unethical to choose any of them before the primary.
"This particular circumstance has never arisen before where all of the nominees for an open seat are active candidates within two weeks of an election," he said on July 10. "I respect the voters too much to weigh in that way and to probably through actions determine who they will choose to give someone a leg up."
Green added that he is not allowed to ask the Democratic Party for different names.
Eli and Gates are running against each other for the District 22 Senate seat and Crabbe is running in a crowded House race for Gates’ current House District 45 seat.
Green in the past told reporters that choosing Crabbe would be most fair since he’s running for a House seat.
In a statement, Green said he would propose legislation to extend the selection process from 60 to 120 days to avoid a similar situation.
“The current law did not anticipate the complexities of appointing a replacement just days before an election," he said.
