Chumbley expected State Sen. Avery Chumbley (D, East Maui) is expected to announce today that he will not run for re-election and instead will support former Democratic Sen. Rosalyn Baker for the Senate seat.
to announce
he will not run
He was elected to the House in
1992 and to the Senate in 1994By Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comChumbley, 47, the president of Wailuku Agribusiness, was elected to the House in 1992 and the Senate in 1994. He is a former vice president of diversified agriculture for C. Brewer & Co.
Chumbley has served as the chairman of the Senate Education Committee and co-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, but lost political power when the Senate reorganized in 2000.
Chumbley lost his co-chairmanship of Judiciary and was named vice chairman of Education. He won re-election in 1998, beating Republican Richard LaFond with 54 percent of the vote.
When asked yesterday about the reports of the decision, Chumbley refused to comment, saying only that he would issue a statement today.
Supporters of Baker, however, circulated an e-mail yesterday announcing Chumbley's decision to step down and endorse Baker. Supporters are planning a $500-a-ticket Oahu fund-raiser for Baker next month.
Chumbley's current Senate seat represents East Maui and West Kauai, but the new seat will represent South and West Maui.
Baker, who served in the state House from 1988 to 1993 and the Senate from 1994 to 1998, is currently the Maui County economic development director. She is a former political consultant and lobbyist for the National Education Association.
She served as House majority leader under former House Speaker Joe Souki, also from Maui. While in the Senate, Baker served as vice chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.
Before the Chumbley decision, Baker, 55, had said she was interested in running for the state House from Maui.
Baker also declined to comment yesterday, saying she was planing an announcement today about her political plans.
Chumbley had been a prime mover of the death-with-dignity bill during this legislative session, which failed on a final vote in the session's closing hours.