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Campaign 2000

A Look At Races of Interest

Lesser-known
congressional candidates
realistic, yet hopeful

General Election Guide
State Office of Elections

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By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Star-Bulletin

They're up against political juggernauts with the names Abercrombie, Akaka and Mink. They're underdogs and, in many cases, will themselves acknowledge that they don't expect to finish on top in Tuesday's general election.

But they expect to be heard and, more often than not, they consider the message as important if not more so than the outcome.

"Realistically, I have a snowball's chance in a well-known place," said David Porter, the Constitution Party candidate challenging incumbent Democratic Sen. Daniel Akaka's re-election bid.

Porter, a financial planner, said his main goal is to make people aware that Congress and the Supreme Court have strayed far from what was originally intended under the U.S. Constitution. He pointed to laws allowing for searches by authorities without warrants.

Lauri Clegg, the Natural Law Party candidate in the Senate race, said she wants to push legislation that would eliminate the influence of special interests on elected officials. She also wants to see more prevention-related health programs instituted nationally.

Even if she's not elected, she said, the important things is to get ideas into public debate. "Once an idea is out there whose time has come, you can't pull it back," Clegg said.

Republican challenger John Carroll, who has spent about $100,000 to date, believes he has a "50-50 chance" of beating Akaka. Carroll has made waves with his lawsuit alleging that the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is spending its money in a "racially discriminatory" manner.

Carroll said he's also for stripping away restrictions imposed on the shipping industry which create a monopoly locally and hurt all Hawaii residents as a result.

Lloyd Jeffey Mallan, Libertarian candidate for the seat, is now running in his sixth straight election.

Mallan said he wants to convince as many voters as possible that "there needs to be a decentralizing of government until government is not needed."

Abercrombie's re-election bid in the 1st Congressional District (urban Oahu) race is being challenged by Republican physician Phil Meyers.

"We actually believe we're in there with a chance," said Steve McManus, a Meyers spokesman. "Everywhere Phil goes, he gets a good reception."

McManus said Meyers wants to be remembered for his small-business agenda, which includes setting up a 100 percent deductibility of health insurance for the self-employed, a reduction in capital gains tax and personal income tax cuts.

Jerry Murphy, Libertarian challenger in that race, said his chances of winning "are not good right now but my chances of getting 10 percent of the vote look pretty good."

With 10 percent, Murphy said, the Libertarian Party will be able to get on the ballot in the next election without needing to first get a set number of signatures.

"I want to be able to leave voters with a third option -- one that is more fiscally conservative than the Republicans and more socially liberal than the Democrats."

Russ Francis is the GOP challenger to Mink in the 2nd Congressional District (rural Oahu, neighbor islands) and believes he has a good shot of upsetting the longtime legislator. Francis wants to push education issues into the forefront.

Francis said he would support an educational savings account measure that would allow up to $2,000 to be treated like IRA money but would go toward education-related expenses.

Libertarian candidate Lawrence Duquesne said he'll be working his regular job as an audit clerk the night of the election.

"Realistically? I think I'm going to get stomped," Duquesne said about his chances of winning Tuesday. "The most important thing I can do this time is present my case as well as I can. And I will keep running as long as it takes to get the message out that there is an alternative to the bipartisan stranglehold in American politics.

"I'm in it to win -- not necessarily this time, not necessarily next time -- but every time you work on something, you make a little progress."