Rep. Ahu Isa
defends her attendance at
Lingle shindig

By Mike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

Democratic state Rep. Lei Ahu Isa began to get irate calls when word quickly spread that she had attended a $100-per-person fund-raiser for Republican gubernatorial candidate and Maui Mayor Linda Lingle.

"If you're supporting her, we're not supporting you!" one caller said.

Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen also called yesterday, but not to complain.

He simply wanted to warn Ahu Isa, who represents Alewa Heights and Liliha, that fellow Democrats could file a complaint against her for seemingly supporting a Republican.

And Wednesday night, as the Lingle event was winding down, an incredulous Corinne Ching -- who again is seeking to challenge Ahu Isa after losing to her by only 83 votes in 1996 -- wondered if Ahu Isa was showing her true colors.

Ching, a schoolteacher, said Ahu Isa once told her that she is actually a Republican. But Ahu Isa denies ever saying anything like that.

"I don't regret going. It shows that I'm independent," said Ahu Isa, who apparently was the only Democratic official at Lingle's fund-raiser, which attracted more than 2,000 people.

Ahu Isa said she is supporting fellow Democrat Ben Cayetano in his bid to be re-elected governor, and has no intention of bolting from the Democratic Party.

"I don't know what is wrong with going to a fund-raiser. (Republican state Reps.) Quentin Kawananakoa and Galen Fox have gone to Democratic fund-raisers," she said.

She went to the Lingle gathering, Ahu Isa said, because she got a complimentary ticket from a female friend, whom she declined to identify.

Heen said Ahu Isa's action "was inappropriate and showed poor judgment."

If a formal complaint is filed, its success would hinge on whether Ahu Isa's appearance could be interpreted as "active support" of a non-Democratic candidate. The penalty would range from censure to expulsion.

In 1992, Maui Democrats ousted County Councilman Wayne Nishiki for supporting then-state Sen. Rick Reed, a Republican, against Democratic U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye.

But the party's statewide Central Committee overturned the decision, issued a censure and allowed Nishiki to remain a Democrat, although he subsequently became a Republican.

While the state GOP has a provision against any member who "actively campaigns" for any candidate running against a Republican nominee, party counsel Rick Clifton said he can't recall it being used, not even against Republicans who supported former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi's third-party gubernatorial bid in 1994.

Lingle campaign manager Bob Awana, a former Democrat, said he is glad Ahu Isa attended the fund-raiser.

"We welcome everyone. Maybe more of them (Democrats) would want to join the winner's circle," he said.

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No joke: Bu La‘ia likely
to be disqualified as candidate
for governor—again

ByMike Yuen
Star-Bulletin

The campaign trail is quickly disappearing as a stage for Bu La'ia, the local comedy character who symbolizes the alienation of the young and politically disenfranchised.

As happened four years ago, Bu's gubernatorial candidacy is headed for a disqualification. This time, it's being wrecked sooner.

But there's a good chance, as happened in 1994, that Bu, whose alter-ego is satirist Kaui Hill, will appear on the ballot. That's because the state's contractor must soon begin printing the ballots for the Sept. 19 primary election, said Laura Shimada, state election operations coordinator.

The problems are many for Bu, who entered the gubernatorial race Tuesday, the filing deadline.

The Hawaii Green Party is disavowing him as a candidate, saying he is not a member and did not go through their candidate-screening process.

Kurt Bowman, the son of former 1970s radio broadcaster Kent Bowman -- better known as the character K.K. Ka'umanua -- now wants no part of Bu's scheme. The younger Bowman, 46, a landscaper whom Bu recruited to be his running mate, said he is getting a medical withdrawal for reasons that he declined to specify.

In Hawaii, a political party is required to have nominees for governor and lieutenant governor because they run on the same ticket in the general election.

Yesterday, election officials said they have yet to receive Bowman's medical withdrawal, which must be accompanied by a doctor's note.

Bowman said Bu didn't tell him that he was listing him on nomination papers as K.K. Ka'umanua Jr., which violates his father's copyright on the name.

"My dad's on my case. So are the Greens. I didn't realize that they are a valid party," the younger Bowman said.

Bu did not return messages left at his business number. The telephone number that Bu gave out for his home is nonworking.

"Bu mentioned we would make hundreds of bucks off of this. The T-shirts, the bumper stickers. He was looking at the monetary end. So was I," Bowman said.

Bu's gubernatorial platform was to be the legalization of marijuana, offshore gambling and the decriminalization of prostitution, Bowman said.

Hawaii Green Party Co-Chairman Ira Rohter said Greens don't want to go to state Circuit Court to force Bu's withdrawal, but that's their "final solution." Green leaders, including former Big Island Mayor Keiko Bonk, have talked to Bu in an attempt to get him step down on his own.

"We don't want to have a fight. We're not opposed to political satire," Rohter said. "But being a candidate is important to people who run as Greens. The platform is important. It is important to maintain the integrity of the political process."

Bu was disqualified as a gubernatorial candidate in 1996 because Kaui Hill was then 28 years old, two years short of the age requirement for governor.

Despite the disqualification, Bu still received 5,761 votes, finishing third in the seven-man Democratic gubernatorial primary.