State GOP aims
to retain governorship

After last year's resounding political losses, Hawaii Republicans convene in Kauai today to plan on preserving the governorship.

In the 2004 elections, Hawaii's minority political party lost legislative members for the second election in a row. After going from 19 House members in 2000 to only 10 last year, GOP leaders say their first priority is to re-elect Gov. Linda Lingle.

"Our primary goal is to win the governor's seat again, and then do our best to pick up as many House and Senate seats as we can," Brennon Morioka, the retiring GOP chairman, said.

Morioka, who likely will be replaced by longtime party worker and former state House member Sam Aiona, acknowledged that the boasts made last year were off base.

Before the 2004 election, Republicans said they were hoping to either win enough seats (18) to control debate in the House or actually seize control of the House with a 26-vote majority.

"We would love to take the majority in the House or Senate, but considering where the numbers are, we need to be a little more realistic," Morioka said.

Former Rep. Guy Ontai, who is now serving as GOP Oahu chairman, said the days of having 19 votes in the House "seem like a dream today."

"With 10 in the House, it is clear we have a heck of a lot of work ahead of us," Ontai said. "We thought we had it covered last time. So we might have to re-look at our strategy and tactics."

He and Sen. Fred Hemmings, the Senate GOP leader, agree Republicans were frustrated by losing most races by just a handful of votes last year.

"We won 20 percent of the races, but we got 40 percent of the vote," said Hemmings (R, Lanikai-Waimanalo).

Aiona says he expects the Democrats to be "more aggressive" in state House and Senate races in next year's election.

"They did a great job in attacking our incumbents," Aiona said.

Hemmings said he plans to spend his time at the three-day convention at the Kauai Marriott building up the party's morale.

"I think the losses in the last election discouraged a lot of people," Hemmings said. "But if we can explain that Hawaii needs a two-party system and send out the message that Hawaii is out of balance today, we can make some advances."

Others see next year as a time for the GOP to expend most of its resources on Lingle's re-election effort. That strategy is likely to stretch the resources of local candidates, according to Republican House leader Rep. Galen Fox.

Political donors are likely to give to Lingle but forget about the local races, said Fox (R, Waikiki-Ala Moana).

"Yes, it makes it hard; it is going to be really tough," Fox said.

The party appears to be in good shape financially, Morioka said. The GOP has about $200,000 in the treasury and can fund four paid positions.

No other candidates have registered to run for party chairman, Morioka said.