Hirono allowed to Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono will be allowed to hold two more fund-raisers in her run to become mayor of Honolulu next year.
stage fund-raisers
Her mayoral run alters rules for
Ex-judge wants officials removed
donations to her campaign fundBy Gordon Y.K. Pang
gpang@starbulletin.comBut the state Campaign Spending Commission, in an advisory opinion issued yesterday, said that Hirono will need to return what now are considered excess funds donated to her campaign.
The issues arose earlier this month when Hirono announced that she was abandoning her plans to run for governor and instead would be vying for the mayor's seat.
Under state law, gubernatorial candidates can hold an unlimited number of fund-raisers. Donors can contribute as much as $6,000 during a campaign cycle. For the mayor's race, however, a candidate may have only two fund-raisers carrying a suggested donation of more than $25. Further, a donor can contribute only $4,000.
Hirono's campaign, while in gubernatorial mode, has had a number of more-than-$25 fund-raisers and has also received contributions from parties in excess of $4,000.
According to the opinion, "The commission believes that a statutory amendment is necessary to adequately address both issues."
Absent such an amendment, the opinion is a fair one for Hirono, said commission Executive Director Robert Watada.
Under the opinion, Hirono's campaign will not be fined for the now-excess contributions.
Hirono said last night that she is pleased with Watada's decision.
She added that her campaign has already returned "under $10,000" to "fewer than a dozen" parties who contributed more than $4,000. That is out of a total of about $240,000 raised to date, she said.
"I run a grass-roots campaign," Hirono said.
Watada said anyone who has already given the maximum $4,000 allowed for a mayoral campaign will not be able to buy tickets to a Hirono fund-raiser or make any other contributions.
Hirono said she does not believe the restrictions will hinder her ability to raise an adequate amount of money to vie for the mayor's seat.
The major candidates in the 2000 mayor's race each spent well over $1 million each. Current Mayor Jeremy Harris, who said he will be stepping down next year to run for governor, spent nearly $3 million.
Other candidates for the anticipated 2002 mayor's race include Councilman Duke Bainum, former Mayor Frank Fasi, former Councilman Mufi Hannemann and former Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro.
Former state District Judge Russell Blair asked the state Supreme Court to order Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and Council members Duke Bainum and Jon Yoshimura to resign their offices immediately. Ex-judge wants
officials removedCandidates for other offices should
resign current posts, he saysBy Bruce Dunford
Associated PressBlair, a former state lawmaker, filed for a writ of mandamus yesterday, contending that a provision in the state Constitution requires an elected official to resign before "being eligible as a candidate" for another office whose term begins before the end of the official's current term.
Harris is running for governor, Hirono and Bainum for Honolulu mayor and Yoshimura for lieutenant governor.
"Harris is the most egregious case," Blair said, referring to the mayor's unabashed campaign for governor since he announced his intention to run in April.
Harris campaign attorney Chris Parsons, Hirono and Gov. Ben Cayetano said yesterday that Blair is wrong in his legal interpretation of the constitutional provision.
The key is the term "eligible candidate," which the intended candidate does not become until he or she has filed nomination papers and has been certified as qualified, Parsons said.
Forcing Harris to resign now just because he has said he plans to run for governor "is a prior restraint on his speech, would gag Mayor Harris and itself would be unconstitutional," he said.
Parsons said Blair's legal action is "transparently political," but said he did not know who might be behind it.
Blair insists he is pursing the matter because he believes the state Constitution, "the basis for our entire government system," should be followed.
When Blair raised the issue earlier this month, Harris said the attorney general has issued an opinion that officeholders did not have to resign until they filed papers to run for the new office.
Blair contends the announcement of candidacy and filing an organizational report with the Campaign Spending Commission triggers the resignation requirement.
Cayetano said Blair "is wrong, and I think that the court will rule accordingly.
"If the ruling is that the moment a public official utters that he or she is a candidate for a certain office or raises some money ... that that person would have to resign, then that is a very bad law and a very bad interpretation," he said. "I can tell you, this administration would be the first to go down to the Legislature and fix it."