Q: You stated in your Sept. 27 column that no Hawaii incumbent member of Congress has ever been defeated for re-election, including Rep. Neil Abercrombie (D). But I checked both Wikipedia and the Congressional Quarterly Web site, and both said that incumbent Abercrombie was defeated in 1986 by Republican Patricia Saiki. -- Will Ryan, Phoenix, Ariz.


A: Nobody does a finer job with politics than the folks at CQ, and you should know better than to trust everything you see in Wikipedia, but I am correct here. Abercrombie competed in two contests on the same day in September of 1986: a special election to replace Rep. Cecil Heftel (D), who was required by state law to leave his House seat in order to run for governor, and the regular Democratic primary for Heftel's seat that would commence the following January...