Political races revolve
on Harris fund probe

Hirono and Rep. Case question
the mayor's claim of a vendetta

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By Rod Antone
rantone@starbulletin.com

Whatever happens to Mayor Jeremy Harris in the coming months could have an effect on those running in the governor's race and the race for Honolulu mayor. Even if an investigation should prove Harris innocent, or prosecutors refuse to take the case, the mayor's opponents say the controversy surrounding the situation will likely take its toll.

"If it's true, it's devastating to a campaign," said GOP gubernatorial hopeful Linda Lingle. "If it's not true then it's still distracting and people may still have trouble donating money after that.

"Right now it's important for the prosecutor's office to act in a timely manner ... and for him (city Prosecutor Peter Carlisle) to be objective and fair."

State Rep. Ed Case (D, Manoa), who is expected to be one of Harris' opponents in the Democratic primary election for governor, wants to make it clear that he believes "Harris and everybody else is innocent until proven guilty."

But, Case also had a few words to say about Harris' response to the commission's vote, which Harris referred to as a "politically motivated vendetta."

"Virtually nobody in this state buys that this is a politically motivated vendetta by Bob Watada or the Campaign Spending Commission," said Case. "It appears that Harris' strategy is that the best defense is a good offense."

"The problem here is that there has been a pattern with this particular candidate and credibility is a concern."

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, who says she'll run for Honolulu mayor when, or if, Harris leaves office to run for governor, refuses to speculate on Harris' guilt or innocence, especially since the commission did not present any evidence at the hearing. But Hirono also questions what evidence Harris has to be accusing the commission of a political attack.

"I know that the Campaign Spending Commission has requested information from a lot of campaigns, including mine," said Hirono yesterday. "I think that if the mayor has information that this is a political agenda it'll come up in the ethics meeting he requested."

If Harris for any reason drops from the governor's race, Lingle says she "could see Hirono jumping out of the mayor's race and back into the governor's race."

In response, Hirono laughed and said, "If he (Harris) doesn't resign, there won't be any mayor's race and some decisions will have to be made.

"But it's really speculative at this point."