ANALYSIS

‘Dueling’ GOP reps vie
for seat in Congress

Reps. Kawananakoa and Ward
have similar beliefs but
very different styles

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

For a House committee chairman, it was an eye-catching scene.

A floor session had just ended. Rep. Quentin Kawananakoa was answering questions from one broadcast news team as its television camera rolled. About 15 feet away, Rep. Gene Ward was holding court with another TV news crew.

"What is this? Dueling minority leaders?" whispered the Democratic lawmaker with a dash of sarcasm.

As the committee chairman knew, it was more a snapshot of dueling Republican congressional candidates. Kawananakoa (Nuuanu) is currently the point man for the House GOP delegation, speaking on behalf of all 12 members. Ward (Hahaione Valley) is the former House minority leader who, although ousted in a leadership coup eight months ago, remains unabashedly outspoken.

Now, with the Legislature just nine days from its scheduled adjournment, it is clear, say lawmakers and veteran Capitol observers, that Kawananakoa will stress in his congressional campaign what he's emphasized during the legislative session: his opposition to any general excise tax increase. It's an issue that has united Republicans, divided Democrats and left the public skeptical as to whether it can help revitalize the state's sluggish economy.

Ward, 55, concedes that he and Kawananakoa, 36, both believe in smaller government and lower taxes. The difference is their stance on "important social issues" such as abortion and benefits for same-sex couples, Ward says. His campaign fund-raising reply card has a photograph of him with "Dr. Bernard Nathanson, former abortionist and producer of the movie 'Silent Scream,'" who now works "for the pro-life cause."

Ward sharper, less timid?

Kawananakoa counters that Ward is distorting his record. He is against abortion, Kawananakoa asserts. Moreover, he and Ward joined the rest of the House last year in approving domestic-partnership benefits in exchange for the Senate agreeing to place on November's ballot a proposed constitutional amendment allowing the Legislature to ban same-sex marriages, Kawananakoa adds.

House members and Capitol observers believe that if the Legislature ends its session without raising the 4 percent excise tax, Kawananakoa will be on the campaign trail saying Democrats finally see the light.

And, they say, even if Democratic legislators do raise the excise tax, Kawananakoa will be saying something like, "I warned them, but they wouldn't listen to me and the people."

"He has bragging rights on that (no tax increase) issue," concedes Majority Floor Leader Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa). "Gene, since he's no longer the minority leader, can only piggyback."

Kawananakoa's and Ward's leadership styles and experience will also come under scrutiny during the congressional campaign, many agree. "I'm a little more confrontational," Ward says. "He's more, 'To get along, you go along.'"

Kawananakoa says he isn't a timid follower as suggested by Ward, who was booted off the House floor last year by Speaker Joe Souki (D, Wailuku). "Someone once told me that fighting -- the physical form of combat -- is the lowest form of negotiation.

"I can fight, but I prefer to take it to a higher level, to educate and teach people and persuade, as opposed to tantrums. It is important that we express and display true leadership," Kawananakoa says.

The consensus at the state Capitol is that Ward is a much more polished public speaker and more adroit at thinking on his feet. Kawananakoa is "not as sharp" as Ward, says Democrat Marcus Oshiro, echoing what a number of lawmakers will only say privately.

Kawananakoa: no 'histrionics'

But House Hawaiian Affairs Chairman Ed Case (D, Manoa), who has Kawananakoa on his panel, believes skill as an extemporaneous speaker doesn't equate with competence as a public servant.

Kawananakoa asks thoughtful questions during committee hearings, Case says. Kawananakoa's style may lend itself more to trying to influence legislation in one-on-one or small-group discussions rather than under the glare of TV camera lights, Case says.

House Public Safety Chairman Nestor Garcia (D, Waipahu), who also has Kawananakoa as a committee member, adds, "He doesn't have to go into histrionics to prove his point."

Although Kawananakoa and his GOP colleagues repeatedly stress their opposition to an excise tax hike, they apparently did not make a concerted effort to lobby their Democratic colleagues. Case, for instance, says he came to his opposition on his own.

Democratic lawmakers concur that Kawananakoa and Ward have done a good job in advocating the Republican perspective, but they also say Kawananakoa's and Ward's effectiveness can't be fully assessed. As minority leaders, they weren't in control of legislation, says Rep. Roy Takumi (D, Pearl City). "They don't have to deliver," Takumi adds.

Ward: 'broad experience'

Before the start of last year's legislative session, Takumi and other dissident Democrats were attempting to gain control of the House. Ward sent them a letter, offering to give them a majority by delivering the GOP caucus in return for some concessions, including more staffers for the minority.

Ward also made the same offer to Speaker Souki. "We discovered he was playing both sides," Takumi says.

Rep. Cynthia Thielen (R, Kailua), who was dumped as minority floor leader when Ward was stripped of his leadership role, credits Ward for increasing the Republican representation in the House from four to 12 during his four-year leadership tenure.

Thielen -- who with Reps. Bob McDermott (R, Foster Village) and Colleen Meyer (R, Kahaluu) is on Ward's campaign committee -- also stresses Ward's "broad international experience" as an Army translator in Vietnam, a Peace Corps volunteer in North Borneo, a United Nations adviser and an entrepreneurial advocate in developing nations. "He doesn't have to play up anything. He's lived it," Thielen says.

In a recent fund-raising letter, Ward makes a cutting assessment of Kawananakoa's international background: "Quentin did travel outside Hawaii to Europe as a social director for Club Mediterranean."