Congressional candidates Charles Djou and Ed Case are cheering a new poll taken for the Democratic National Committee that shows that either man is likely to beat state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa.

“;Colleen cannot win this election, and her desperate attacks are proving that,”; Case said.

Republican Djou sent out a news release saying he thinks the polls shows that even the Democrats think he can win.

“;I am excited that even a Democrat poll shows that our campaign is connecting with Hawaii voters and we have clear momentum in the race,”; Djou said.

Hanabusa's campaign spokeswoman, Crystal Kua, said her campaign has been getting a strong response since the ballots in the 1st Congressional District race were mailed.

“;We believe that these polls are contrary to what we are hearing in the field,”; Kua said. “;We have talked to thousands of people, and we have been receiving a tremendous amount of support, especially since the ballots started dropping.”;

Djou, Case and Hanabusa are the front-runners in a race to replace former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie. Mail ballots went out over the weekend, and the votes will be tallied on May 22.

The poll, taken April 24-26 of 506 likely voters, shows that Djou has 36 percent of the vote, Case 34 percent and Hanabusa 20 percent. Case had a 63 percent favorable rating, followed by 55 percent for Djou and 41 percent for Hanabusa.

The pollster, in a memo that was released by the Internet news agency Politico, said that “;all the crucial projective questions in the survey point to Ed Case as the candidate far better positioned to prevail over Djou—in striking contrast to Hanabusa.”;

Paul Harstad and Mike Kulisheck, the pollsters, said that if Hanabusa and Case split the Democratic vote in the special election, “;this congressional district is more likely than not to fall into Republican hands.”;