KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle, right, and Rep. Mindy Jaffe chatted yesterday with other Republicans at their headquarters on Kapiolani Boulevard. The Republicans fielded candidates in all but five House districts.
GOP mounts biggest Never before has so much of Hawaii's political power been at stake.
challenge since ’59
The filing deadline passes with
the promise of a lively election seasonNew district lines create hot contests
for September’s primary electionsBy Richard Borreca
rborreca@starbulletin.comThe 2002 elections formally started yesterday at 4:30 p.m. with the last candidate signing up just before the doors closed. The candidate was Crystal Young, a Republican candidate for governor.
Young may be a long-shot to beat Linda Lingle in the GOP primary on Sept. 21, but the governor's race highlights the GOP's strongest challenge to Democratic control of the governorship and state House since Hawaii became a state in 1959.
"We are running a coordinated, from-the-bottom-up, campaign to win a majority in the state House and the governorship," says Micah Kane, the successor to Lingle as GOP executive director.
Republicans credit Lingle with encouraging House candidates two years ago to increase their numbers in the 51 member House from 12 to 19. This fall, the GOP wants a 26-person majority in the House.
"Right now we are at the tipping point and people recognize it," Kane said.
Democrats, however, say the Lingle strategy is driven by her desire to win the governorship and the filings yesterday were aimed at helping her campaign.
"It is a very revealing strategy," says Lorraine Akiba, Democratic party chairwoman. "It is a cult of one person. The strategy is being driven by one person and not because they want to get better leadership for Hawaii."
Democrats, however, have been weakened in this election year by a series of missteps in their primary election as Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono pulled out of the race after aides said she was having difficulty raising funds.
Hirono decided to run for mayor because incumbent Jeremy Harris was running for governor. But then Harris' campaign faltered over a challenge over whether or not he could campaign for governor while remaining mayor.
Harris put his campaign on hold, while also facing a Campaign Spending Commission investigation that leveled allegations of improperly recording how his campaign collected its money. Harris then announced that he could not win the governor's race and withdrew, and Hirono jumped back in.
Also running for governor are Rep. Ed Case, a political reformer who left his position as House Democratic leader because he said the House leadership was too close to the state's powerful public employee unions.
The third major Democrat running is D.G. "Andy" Anderson, the Republican-turned-Democrat, who ran unsuccessfully twice for governor on the GOP ticket.
KEN IGE / KIGE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Duke Aiona, a candidate for lieutenant governor, spoke yesterday with Gordon Trimble, left, a state Senate candidate, and his finance director, Robert Trimble, right, at GOP headquarters.
Hirono, Case and Anderson have all taken their campaigns around the state.
Hirono so far has an edge in organization because she ran statewide twice as lieutenant governor, while Case has stressed his campaign for change, saying in his ads that "at last you have a reason to vote." Anderson has stressed the issues in his campaign, coming up with a plan for a lottery for education and a state-sponsored retail gasoline operation to lower the cost of gas.
Lingle's major primary opposition is former legislator John Carroll, an attorney and former airline pilot. Carroll said he hopes to beat Lingle by appealing to the state's more conservative voters.
Lingle, however, has stressed keeping her campaign and the GOP close to the political middle.
For instance, as GOP chair she supported a party platform plank supporting abortion, but when pro-life delegates at this year's GOP convention complained that it would enrage the GOP right, Lingle agreed with a move to simply drop the issue from the platform.
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The Hawaii Republican Party has fielded candidates in all but five state House seats in its attempt to capture a majority of the 51-member House from Democrats this fall. New district lines create hot contests
for September’s primary electionsBy Pat Omandam
pomandam@starbulletin"Our goal from the very beginning was to recruit enough quality candidates that give us the opportunity and chance to win the majority in the House, and I think we've done that," said Micah Kane, Republican Party chairman.
Overall, the picture for the 127 seats up for election this fall has become strikingly clearer with yesterday's candidate filing deadline. A certified list of the 412 candidates from the state Elections Office last night showed many familiar and new names, as well as a handful of candidates who hail from the same family.
In the 76 state legislative races, 16 will be decided during the state's primary elections on Sept. 21 because there is no opposition in the Nov. 5 general election.
One of the more hotly contested primary races is for a new Senate district that stretches along Oahu's Southern waterfront from Sand Island to Waikiki. Five Democrats and three Republicans want to represent the newly reapportioned District 12.
With no incumbent, they all believe they appeal to the area's residents. But first, they must get past their own parties' primary elections.
Democratic candidate Jon Yoshimura said the district holds keys to Hawaii's economic revitalization, including Waikiki and Kakaako.
The former TV news reporter and current city councilman is counting on his eight years of council experience to carry his vote.
"I think the clear difference is that I have a record of government service that I'm proud of, especially in this district," Yoshimura said.
Four other Democrats, Jerry Drelling, a former TV anchor and investigative reporter; Patrick McCain, president of the Hawaii Restaurant Association; Douglas Luna, an architect and former banker; and Cindy-Lynn D. Rasmussen, a businesswoman, are also in the Democratic primary race.
"It's kind of nice to be in a race where there's competition," Rasmussen said. "Competition is a good thing."
Former Democratic state Rep. Lei Ahu Isa, Gordon Trimble and Les Among face off in the Republican primary. Ahu Isa said her focus is on needy people in the district, such as the elderly and the poor. She noted that the district includes public housing projects such as Mayor Wright Housing and Kukui Gardens.
In another big Senate primary race, Kapolei incumbent Brian Kanno squares off with fellow Democrat John DeSoto, chairman of the City Council.
Kanno said his record of accomplishment for the state's fastest-growing district will help him retain his seat. DeSoto, however, said the state has not followed through on its promises for a second city in Kapolei and people there are frustrated.
The winner faces Republican Gerald Nakata of Kapolei.
"I'm not running against Brian Kanno. I'm running to make a difference in the senatorial 19th district," DeSoto said.
Another key race is between incumbent state Sens. Lorraine Inouye and David Matsuura, who find themselves sharing the newly reapportioned Hilo-Honokaa senate district. The winner will face Republican Chuck Clarke in the general election.
"I think I've had a lot more experience in dealing with a lot more people in regard to government operations," said Inouye, a former Big Island mayor and county council member.
In the House, a similar situation exists for House incumbents Roy Takumi and Nobu Yonamine. They join challenger Charles Aono in the Democratic primary for the Pearl City seat.
Yonamine said he has brought a lot of capital improvements to the district and remains involved there.
Aono, who is a first-time candidate, said he wants to do something about Pearl City's crime rate, which is among the highest in the state.
"Incumbents are hard to beat," Aono said. "But I'm doing my best. I have no money, but I'm doing everything that I can to win."
The winner faces Republican Chris Pendergrast.
Other Oahu primary legislative races to watch include the one for new Ewa Senate district, where state Rep. Willie Espero and community leader Tesha Malama are in a winner-take-all Democratic primary.
And first-time candidate Jennifer Waihee, the daughter of former Hawaii governor John Waihee, faces off in a Democratic primary for the Liliha House district against Sesnita Moepono, former deputy administrator for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. On the Republican side, Corinne Ching and Ken Akamine square off.
On Maui, three candidates are seeking a state House seat in the newly created, nonincumbent 10th District (West Maui). Interior designer Patricia Peterson, a former chairwoman of the Maui League of Republican Women, will face Brian Blundell, who ran unsuccessfully for the state Board of Education in 2000. The winner will meet Democrat James R. Rouse, an attorney, in the general election.
Democrat Rosalyn Baker of West Maui is seeking to get back in the state Senate and running unopposed as a Democrat in the primary in the reconfigured, nonincumbent 5th District.
Baker will face off in the general election with the winner of the Republican primary, a race between West Maui physician Ben Azman and Pacific Disaster Center information systems administrator Don Couch of West Maui.
With no one filing as a candidate to challenge their incumbency in either the primary or general elections, these 13 legislative races already have been decided: Uncontested races
>> Senate District 6 (East Maui-Lanai-Molokai): J. Kalani English (D)
>> Senate District 10 (Moiliili-Manoa): Brian Taniguchi (D)
>> Senate District 13 (Kalihi-Liliha): Suzanne Chun Oakland (D)
>> Senate District 14 (Kalihi Valley-Halawa): Donna Kim (D)
>> Senate District 15 (Salt Lake-Foster Village): Norman Sakamoto (D)
>> Senate District 16 (Aiea-Pearl City): David Ige (D)
>> Senate District 18 (Waipahu): Cal Kawamoto (D)
>> Senate District 22 (Kaena-Wahiawa-Pupukea): Robert Bunda (D)
>> House District 1 (North Kohala-South Hilo): Dwight Takamine (D)
>> House District 17 (Kalama Valley): William Stonebraker (R)
>> House District 18 (Hahaihone-Kahala): Bertha Leong (R)
>> House District 28 (Kakaako-Iwilei): Kenneth Hiraki (D)
>> House District 34 (Newtown-Waimalu): K. Mark Takai (D)
Star-Bulletin writer Gary Kubota contributed to this report.
