Before Gov. Neil Abercrombie selects a successor for the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s State Central Committee will be the primary vetting chamber.

The central committee, which is made up of 82 Democrats, is not often in the news. It serves essentially as a board of directors of the party. Twelve members of the SCC also comprise an executive committee — top officers empowered to make decisions when there is not sufficient time for SCC members to meet.

The SCC’s duties include matters such as deciding whether a party member wanting to run for office meets party requirements.

The committee made headlines this spring when it rejected Laura Thielen‘s approval to run for the state Senate; Thielen ran and won anyway, and the party later decided not to pursue legal action. The SCC was ridiculed by some Democrats for rejecting Thielen but praised by others for adhering to party rules.

With the death of Inouye, the partisan group is now charged with a far more significant decision: selecting three names of possible replacements to put on the governor’s desk.

This is a big decision for the state, and one that will likely reverberate through the Hawaiian isles for decades.

In light of this, Civil Beat thought it was appropriate to let our readers know who’s putting together the succession pool for Abercrombie.

The deadline for applications was 5 p.m. Christmas Eve, and as of Sunday there were about a dozen people who had applied. It wasn’t clear whether the names of applicants would be publicly released.

As of midday Monday, the names of applicants include U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz, former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, state Sens. Will Espero and Donna Mercado Kim, Department of Land and Natural Resources Deputy Director Esther Kiaaina and Blake Oshiro, Abercrombie’s deputy chief of staff.

Congresswoman-elect Tulsi Gabbard also threw her name into the fray Monday. Gabbard was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

There’s also Tony Gill, son of the late Tom Gill, a former congressman and lieutenant governor, and an SCC and executive committee member who has submitted an application to become senator.

While he said he’s still expecting to vote, Gill has recused himself from discussions involving the voting procedure.

The SCC meets Wednesday at party headquarters at Ward Warehouse. Some members, especially on the neighbor islands, may not be able to attend because of holiday travel challenges. Democrats say they will try to arrange for phone contact with those members.

The eligible candidates will be allowed to make a 2-minute presentation to the SCC. There will be no Q&A. The SCC will then go in to executive session.

A decision is expected Wednesday, and the shortlist will be sent immediately to Abercrombie, who has said he will act quickly. In theory, the new senator-select could be on the red-eye to D.C. that very night.

Here is the current SCC roster, dated Oct. 13, 2012, which includes eight vacancies:

The State Central Committee

Source: Democratic Party of Hawaii

Chad Blair contributed to this story.