AFL-CIO interviews Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, former state Sen. Matt Matsunaga and former Gov. John Waihee appeared yesterday before a major labor union trying to decide which candidate to endorse in the Jan. 4 special election for the 2nd Congressional District.
candidates for House
The union considers 6 Democrats
vying for Patsy Mink's seatBy Crystal Kua
ckua@starbulletin.comThe Hawaii State AFL-CIO, which represents 100,000 workers, also interviewed Democrats Ed Case, Colleen Hanabusa and Mufi Hannemann.
"I think we're looking for a candidate who would support working men and women not only in our state, but nationally," said President Harold Dias Jr.
"We tried to interview those candidates that we feel have been supportive of our issues in the past and that we felt were the strongest candidates."
Case is the only one in the pack who has formally filed to run in the winner-take-all special election to fill the district seat left vacant when U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink died. Mink posthumously won the general election.
"They had a host of issues that were a concern to them on the national level, and they also wanted to know exactly what my campaign organization and strategy was," Case said. "I think they're approaching this from the perspective of who has the best overall organization and momentum and the best probability of prevailing."
Hanabusa said she is expecting to file next week.
"I think it's significant in the fact that they are viewing us as the primary contenders, or they may be attempting to narrow the field, so to speak, because there are so many Democrats who have expressed an interest in running," Hanabusa said.
Matsunaga said yesterday that he is "leaning in that direction."
"I haven't made a formal announcement yet, but I am leaning towards running," he said.
Hannemann said he does not know whether to run for Congress or mayor. He said he attended because he did not want to miss the endorsement opportunity should he decide to run for Congress.
"I have not made a final decision," Hannemann said. "I consented to go because I'm seriously considering it."
Waihee did not return a phone call for comment. Hirono, through a spokeswoman, had no comment. She received the AFL-CIO's endorsement in the governor's race.
Dias said the AFL-CIO has specific concerns on issues of national importance.
"We certainly would want to see where they stand on enforcement of the National Labor Relations Act as it refers to the freedom and ability of an employee to choose to join a union," Dias said.
"I think we're very interested in their opinions on where they stand on tax cuts for the rich, where they would stand on issues like privatizing Social Security, which we feel will impact many of our membership."
Dias said another important factor is that the congressional delegation from Hawaii has been a champion of labor.
"We've always had a delegation that's been supportive of working men and women, and we would like to see that continued," Dias said.
Dias said the endorsement is expected to be announced when the organization holds its convention Nov. 25.
The candidates said the endorsement will be an important one.
Dias said that while the organization paid more attention to the candidates rather than party affiliation, it is no accident that the six candidates they interviewed are Democrats because labor is against some of the positions taken by the Republican Party.
One more Republican is throwing her hat in the ring for Congress.
State Rep. Barbara Marumoto was expected to announce today that she is in the race. Other Republican candidates include former state Rep. Bob McDermott, former gubernatorial candidate John Carroll, former state Rep. Jim Rath and former Mayor Frank Fasi.