Harris receives Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris is getting strong support to stay in the race for governor despite the Campaign Spending Commission investigation of his fund-raising practices.
strong support to run
59 percent of those familiar
with the race for governor say
he should stay the courseBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.com
In a new poll by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and KITV-4, 59 percent of those familiar with the case say Harris should stay in the race.
Another 23 percent say Harris should not run for governor. About half of those surveyed said they were familiar with the fund-raising issue.
On Jan. 15, the commission voted to send the charges against the Harris 2000 mayoral campaign to the city prosecutor. Harris has denied the allegations, saying they are the result of a vendetta against him by Robert Watada, campaign spending commission executive director.
Harris did not return telephone calls from the Star-Bulletin, asking about the poll.
The poll shows that Harris also enjoys strong approval for the job he has been doing as mayor.
Wanda Kakugawa, president of Market Trends Pacific, the firm that did the poll, says the poll shows the public wants him to continue running and there may be a sense that people agree with the Harris charge that his campaign is being targeted for investigation.
The poll was taken between Jan. 26 and Feb. 3 of 601 persons who said they were likely to vote.
The poll was conducted by Market Trends Pacific Inc. For the entire sample, there is a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
The margin of error for the sample of those who said they were familiar with the Harris fund raising case was plus or minus five percentage points.
Harris' opponents figure that the 23 percent who say Harris should quit the race as those who would vote against the mayor anyway.
"If he comes out of this he will be a formidable candidate," D.G. "Andy" Anderson, who is running for governor as a Democrat, said.
"I went into this thinking I could beat him without a scandal, so I think people will just wait and listen to what he has to say."
Rep. Ed Case, who also is running for governor as a Democrat, said he thought the 59 percent who think Harris should stay in the race are reserving judgment.
"I don't think it is good news for the campaign, people are aware of the controversy surrounding his (Harris') fund raising.
"If this investigation continues during the campaign more people will know about the controversy and more will be making a judgment on it," Case said.
