HONOLULU, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- Republican Linda Lingle defeated Democratic Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in Hawaii's gubernatorial race, becoming the Aloha State's first GOP governor in 40 years, results showed Wednesday.
Lingle, the former mayor of Maui, will be Hawaii's first female governor.
"We've restored the two-party system," Lingle told her supporters late Tuesday.
With all precincts reporting, Lingle and her running mate, former state judge James "Duke" Aiona, had 51.1 percent of the vote from Tuesday's election to 46.6 percent for Hirono and her running mate, state Sen. Matt Matsunaga.
Tuesday's election to replace Gov. Ben Cayetano is the second gubernatorial final in which women represent both major parties in the nation's history. The only other such race was in 1986 when Republican Kay Orr defeated Democrat Helen Boosalis in Nebraska.
Lingle, 49, is the second Jewish female governor in U.S. history. The first was Vermont's Madeleine Kunin, a Democrat, who served from 1985 to 1991.
If the 55-year-old Hirono had won, she would have become the first Asian-American female governor in the United States.
The late Democratic Rep. Patsy Mink beat Republican challenger state Rep. Bob McDermott in the race for Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District, 52 percent to 37.1 percent. Mink, 74, died on Sept. 28 of viral pneumonia stemming from chickenpox. She was first elected to Congress in 1964.
A special election will be held Nov. 30 to fill her seat for the remaining five weeks of her term and another special election will be Jan. 4 to fill her seat in the 108th Congress. Hawaii state officials have estimated the cost of the two special elections at $3 million to $4 million.
