Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.

Campaign 2000

a Look At The Hot Races And Issues

Senior senator focuses
on Big Isle education

---

Richard Borreca
Star-Bulletin

THE entire island of Oahu could fit inside the huge 2nd Senate District. It's the state's biggest Senate district, stretching 71 miles east to west and nearly 50 miles north to south.

The rugged, largely unpopulated area covers South Kona, Puna and Kau with 12,200 women and 10,750 men registered to vote. The average household income is $38,236 compared to the Big Island's average of $46,035, according to updated census figures.

The incumbent Democrat, Sen. Andy Levin, said he has walked 110 miles of the district.

"That's one dog bite and two rainstorms," Levin joked.

With the departure this year of Norman Mizuguchi, a 22-year veteran of the Senate, Levin is the Senate's senior member. He has 12 years in the Senate and eight in the state House.

He is opposed by Republican Earl Fujikawa, who has not returned phone calls. The state Republican Party had no way to contact Fujikawa.

Levin, however, said he met Fujikawa at a forum and they are "conducting a campaign without rancor."

Levin, co-chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said he wants increased help for education in the district.

"I try to urge the Legislature to be the education Legislature," he said.

SENATE DISTRICT 2 South Kona-Kau Earl Fujikawa (R) No information provided Andy Levin (D) Occupation: Attorney, state senator Background: Former Big Island Legal Aid chief counsel; former UH-Hilo assistant professor; Harvard Law School graduate, 1969