When U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii) passed away on Sept. 28 , she left an empty seat in the House of Representatives -- and a far-reaching legacy for both Hawaii and the country. On Nov. 30, in what will be the final House race of this calendar year, Hawaii's voters will go to the polls to select her temporary replacement.
"She was a pioneer and a dynamic visionary leader," said Lorraine Akiba, chairwoman of the Hawaii Democratic Party. "She always stood up for what she believed in even if she was in the minority."
Mink, 74, held the 2nd Congressional District seat, representing rural Oahu and its neighboring islands. She entered the hospital on Aug. 30 with a case of chicken pox, but after two days, developed pneumonia and was moved to the intensive-care unit. Despite her serious condition and hospitalization, she won the Democratic primary in September, defeating challenger Steve Tataii.
"She had been re-elected by large margins in recent years in a district that heavily favors her party," wrote Michael Barone, a senior writer at U.S. News & World Report and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics 2002, in an e-mail. "She has not had serious opposition from the Republican party in many years, if ever."
Two days after the Democratic Party's deadline to name a replacement candidate in the general election, Mink passed away. With her name remaining on the ballot, she defeated Republican Bob McDermott on Nov. 5, and now two special elections have been established to fill her seat. These will mark the only federal special elections not held in conjunction with a pre-appointed election date since Hawaii became a state in 1959.
During the first election, scheduled for Nov. 30, voters will elect one of 38 candidates to serve out the remaining five weeks of Mink's current term in Washington.
"Some may criticize holding an election for such a short period. But the House may very well be in session during that time, and there's a strong argument that the people of the district are entitled to representation if it's feasible to hold an election," Barone wrote in the e-mail.
The most surprising candidate to file for this special election is John Mink, the late congresswoman's husband. He says he hopes to carry on his wife's memory by serving through the remainder of her current term. If elected, however, he will not run in the second special election, scheduled for Jan. 4.
In the January election, voters will select a representative for the 2nd District who will serve a full two-year term. "That's a god-awful mess. Everybody in the world is running," said Ira Rohter, political-science professor at the University of Hawaii in Manoa. "Someone might get 15 percent of the vote and win."
As of the Nov. 20 deadline, 44 candidates had filed to run. Some of the prominent names for the Democrats include Ed Case, the only well-known candidate to run in both the special elections, and Matt Matsunaga, a defeated candidate for lieutenant governor and son of the late Democratic Sen. Spark Matsunaga. John Waihee, a former governor of Hawaii, originally planned to run but pulled out to avoid splitting the vote among Democrats.
The major names for the Republicans are incumbent state Rep. Barbara Marumoto and McDermott, who lost to Mink on Nov. 5 but received 40 percent of the vote.
With fewer than six weeks until the vote, the outcome may depend on money and endorsement. "Watch where the unions go," Rohter said. "I think that will be the marker."
Despite the Republicans' recent gubernatorial victory in Hawaii, when former Maui Mayor Linda Lingle defeated Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in the second all-female gubernatorial election in U.S. history, Democrats feel confident that they will keep the seat. "I believe that the people of Hawaii really recognize all that Patsy Mink stood for, and they will be looking for someone who meets that standard," Akiba said.
Mink's presence, however, will be hard to match. Overall, the candidates are "not as feisty as Patsy," Rohter said. "Those are fairly large shoes to fill."
Mink's shoes traversed a wide range of areas. One of her greatest contributions came in 1972, when, as co-author of Title IX, she helped open the world of academics and athletics to women. The bill, which outlawed gender discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funds, is credited with helping give rise to a new culture of women's athletics over the past 25 years -- and is widely regarded as one of recent history's most successful examples of legislation leading to social change.
"People would say it's almost like a revolution," said Bernice Sandler, who played a role in developing Title IX and is now a senior scholar at the Women's Research and Education Institute.
Sandler is also quick to mention Mink's work on the Women's Educational Equity Act. Enacted in 1974, the act sought to ensure equality in education for women by requiring the government to provide materials and funding to help schools meet the requirements of Title IX.
"It was her [legislation] from the start," Sandler said. "She wanted a bill, and by God, she got it."
Mink's progressivism stemmed partly from the difficulties she encountered in her own life. She graduated as valedictorian of her high-school class in 1944 and went on to attend the University of Hawaii. After graduation, she hoped to pursue a career in medicine, but few medical schools admitted women at that time.
She instead pursued a law degree and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1951. Upon returning to Hawaii, she discovered that no law firms would hire a woman, but once again, found another way to keep moving ahead: She started her own practice in 1953.
During this time, Mink also became involved in politics. She was elected to Hawaii's Territorial House in 1956 and to its Territorial Senate in 1959. She then went on to serve as a state lawmaker, city councilwoman and member of Congress.
She was the first woman of color elected to Congress, the first Asian-American woman to practice law in Hawaii and the first Asian-American woman elected to the Territorial House.
Mink is survived by her husband and her daughter, Gwendolyn Rachel (Wendy) Mink, a professor at Smith College. In Mink's memory, the family has established the Patsy Takemoto Mink Education Fund for Low-Income Women and Children.
Megan Mallory is a Prospect intern.