Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou has won the special election in urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District, the first Republican sent to Washington, D.C., to represent the Islands in two decades.

According to the state Office of Elections, Djou leads with 39.5 percent of the vote, followed by 30.8 percent for state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and 27.6 percent for former congressman Ed Case. The remaining 11 other candidates attracted the rest of the vote.

The results are for ballots mailed in or dropped off through Friday and a portion of ballots received today, accounting for most of the votes cast in the winner-take-all special election. The Office of Elections plans to release a final count later tonight.

Djou would serve out the remaining months of former congressman Neil Abercrombie's term in Congress, which ends in January 2011. Abercrombie resigned in February to concentrate on his campaign in the Democratic primary for governor.

The September primary and November general election will determine who replaces Abercrombie in Congress.

Djou would be the first Republican from Hawaii sent to Congress in 20 years and only the third since statehood.

Case and Hanabusa split the Democratic vote, as public and private polls had predicted.