On the day new U.S. Rep. Charles Djou was formally sworn into office in Washington, D.C., a handful of candidates offered their services as potential candidates to fill out the remainder of his term on the City Council.

Council Chairman Todd Apo is hoping to have a list of potential candidates by Tuesday.

The Council would then have to nominate and approve someone by its next regular meeting on June 9.

Among those who have said they plan to seek the appointment are Jonathan Lai, a lawyer and friend of Djou; Warner “;Kimo”; Sutton, a community activist and volunteer who has served on a neighborhood board; and Lori Gorospe Wingard, Djou's former chief of staff at City Hall, who was let go in an internal office shuffle in 2008.

Because there is less than a year left in Djou's term, it is up to the Council to appoint a replacement.

Apo and Djou have said they hope the Council follows past practice and chooses a candidate who pledges not to seek the full term in the fall. All three of the declared candidates have said they do not plan to do so.

    Djou sworn in at Capitol Hill

 

 

Charles Djou said he was eager to begin work.

 

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Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Djou was administered the oath of office by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

“;Congratulations, Congressman Djou, you are now a member of the 111th Congress,”; Pelosi said.

Djou issued a statement thanking voters and restating his promise to try to change the direction of Congress.

“;Today we are sending a message to our Congress that we need our government to focus on creating jobs and making a better life for all of us,”; he said. “;I will work to restore fiscal responsibility, government accountability and always put Hawaii's interests first.”;

Djou also was welcomed to Washington by Hawaii's senior U.S. senator, Daniel Inouye, who had campaigned for his political rival, Democrat Colleen Hanabusa.

Djou was the winner Saturday of a special election to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Democrat Neil Abercrombie.