Democratic contenders agree to ‘political speed dating’

Voters on Oahu are getting a unique opportunity to meet the numerous Democrats running for the 2nd Congressional District.

Two groups are organizing a "political speed dating" event Wednesday, the day after the deadline for candidates to file for office.

The Progressive Democrats of Hawaii and the Hawaii chapter of the Americans for Democratic Action expect a total of 10 Democrats to seek the office being vacated by U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who is challenging U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka.

"We wanted to bring all the candidates together to speak in one place," Progressive Democrats Co-chairwoman Rachel Orange said in a news release. "But with 10 candidates, it was unmanageable under a traditional format."

The event is patterned after social speed dating, a matchmaking event where singles meet several people one-on-one for short amounts of time over the course of an evening.

For the political event, the audience will be divided into groups. Candidates will get 10 minutes to meet with one group before moving on to the next. The process continues until each candidate has had 10 minutes with each of the audience groups.

As of Friday, organizers said they had firm commitments from eight candidates.

The event is scheduled from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at McCoy Pavilion. It is free and open to the public.