Abercrombie leads
campaign fund raising

Candidates could spend $1 million
each during the congressional race

By Pete Pichaske
Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON -- Incumbent Neil Abercrombie continues to lead the hectic race for campaign cash in Hawaii's first congressional district.

But one of his GOP challengers, Hawaii House Minority Leader Quentin Kawananakoa, nearly matched Abercrombie's take during the first three months of the year. Both candidates, if they make it to the general election, are on target to spend at least $1 million for the campaign.

According to reports filed here with the Federal Election Commission, Abercrombie raised $61,200 during the first quarter of 1998 and had $332,200 on hand.

The four-term Democrat, who had vowed to raise more money after his near-defeat two years ago, remains well ahead of his fund-raising pace for the 1996 campaign.

Kawananakoa (R-Nuuanu) raised $51,000 during the three-month period, according to his report, and had $111,800 on hand.

State Rep. Gene Ward, R-Hahaione Valley, Kawananakoa's predecessor as minority leader and another contender for the Republican nomination, raised only $8,500 during the quarter but had $104,600 on hand.

Ward's war chest has been bolstered with borrowed money. In the past four months, Ward has taken out three loans totaling $149,900.

Two of the loans were from the candidate himself, while the third was a $60,000 bank loan.

Perhaps not surprisingly for what is shaping up to be a pricey, million-dollar campaign, money is already an issue in the contested Republican race. Kawananakoa, noting that Ward has twice taken out loans on the final day of the FEC reporting period, suggested his opponent is using the loans to inflate his fund-raising prowess.

"It's clearly an attempt to pull the wool over the eyes of whoever looks at those reports," said Kawananakoa.

"It's an attempt to leave the impression that he was a viable fund-raiser with the support of the people," he said.

Kawananakoa said Ward's failure to attract more contributions means "he has no business being in the campaign. He's a bit of a spoiler. . . . I just wish we could all keep on eye on our goal, which is to retire Neil Abercrombie."

Ward's campaign manager dismissed suggestions that the loans were deceptive and the Ward campaign faltering.

"Gene's not trying to deceive anybody," said Paul Wieland, who worked with the national Republican Party before moving to Hawaii to manage Ward's campaign. He said the loans were meant simply to "jump-start" the campaign in its infancy.

"Our campaign is not going to be able to raise the money Kawananakoa is going to be able to raise," conceded Wieland, noting Kawananakoa's ties to the Campbell Estate. "But we're going to raise our fair share."

"You should ask whose ideas are gaining traction with the voters," added Wieland. "And the answer is, ours are."

Ward's goal, said Wieland, is to raise $750,000 after the Sept. 19 primary.

Kawananakoa's fund-raising goal is similar: a total of $1 million, including $800,000 after the primary. The money will be needed, he said, to counter the costly campaign expected from Abercrombie.

Six months before the primary election and eight before the general, Abercrombie already has raised $467,000 for his 1998 campaign, including money raised last year. In contrast, he spent only $674,000 in his 1996 campaign.

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Man running against Inouye
buys national ads

Candidate Gene Douglass is trying to
raise campaign funds nationally

By Pete Pichaske
Star-Bulletin

WASHINGTON -- He might be an unknown in Hawaii, but Gene Douglass is hoping to make a name for himself among readers of the conservative Washington Times National Weekly Edition and Insight magazine -- and to raise a little cash while he's at it.

Douglass, a 40-year-old chemistry instructor who is running for the Republican nomination to oppose Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye, is taking out a series of full-page fund-raising ads in the two periodicals.

The first of the ads appears on Page 9 of the Times' current national weekly edition and lambasts Inouye for his support of a controversial abortion procedure. "This is the face of Partial Birth Abortion in the U.S. Senate," reads the headline, next to a picture of Inouye.

The ad goes on to criticize Inouye -- "one of Bill Clinton's closest allies in the U.S. Senate" -- for his votes against tax cuts, IRS reform and term limits. At the bottom of the page is a coupon readers can use to send money.

Douglass said he will run a dozen such ads in the weekly Washington Times national editions over the next few months and at least a couple in Insight, which is also published by the Washington Times.

He said his unusual tactic of advertising in mainland publications is a result of Inouye's votes having an impact on the entire country and of the weak economy in Hawaii, which makes contributors here more scarce.

"I expect a lot of positive response. I think people, particularly of my political persuasion, will say, 'Wow, someone is willing to take on this big liberal icon in the Senate,'" Douglass said.

"And I need to raise funds so I can run a proper campaign."

Douglass said he did not know how much the advertising will cost, but whatever the price, "it's part of doing a campaign."

According to Washington Times spokeswoman Melissa Smigley, a full-page black-and-white ad in the national edition costs $2,900. The weekly's circulation, she said, is about 100,000.

Inouye aide Jennifer Goto Sabas termed Douglass' use of the mainland periodicals for fund-raising appeals "quite interesting" and said they were the GOP candidate's first visible salvo in the campaign.

"It's campaign season," she said of the ads. "The senator's position on abortion is a long-held one. He looks forward to a campaign on the issues."

According to his most recent campaign report, Douglass raised only $25 in contributions through the end of March and had spent $1,287, most of it his own money. The expenditures do not include the newspaper ads.

Inouye, in contrast, raised $226,449 during the first three months of this year and has $644,267 on hand.