Mayor tops in campaign spending

Mayor Mufi Hannemann has outspent his two leading contenders by more than double over the last three months on primarily his re-election campaign advertisements, according to finance reports filed yesterday afternoon.

CANDIDATES' COFFERS Mayor Mufi Hannemann raised the most money over the last three months for the mayoral election, and he is also the biggest spender by nearly double the amount compared with his two opponents. Here is the breakdown of their campaign reports filed yesterday for July 1 to Friday. Mufi Hannemann » Raised: $180,535.23 » Spent: $653,299.14 » Money remaining: $1.87 million Ann Kobayashi » Raised: $125,952.26 » Spent: $261,274.81 » Money remaining: $10,517.59 Panos Prevedouros » Raised: $45,880.04 » Spent: $34,128.89 » Loan of: $17,718.64 » Money remaining: deficit of $5,967.49 Source: State Campaign Spending Commission

Hannemann spent $653,300 from July 1 to Sept. 5, with City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi next yet still trailing far behind at $261,275. Even though Hannemann was the biggest spender, he still has the most money in his campaign funds at $1.8 million, a clear advantage over his two opponents, who entered the mayor's race late in July.

Panos Prevedouros, a first-time candidate and a University of Hawaii-Manoa engineering professor, has a $6,000 deficit in his campaign funds that he would have to repay from personal funds if he does not do more fundraising. Over the last three months, he raised about $45,000 but spent $34,000 and took out a loan of $17,000.

"They (my donors) have given a very modest amount," said Prevedouros, who has taken a leave of absence from his university job and is expecting a baby a week after the Sept. 20 primary election. "It does not allow us to do any major television commercials. I prioritize the same way I would run the city: cost-effectively."

Hannemann raised about $180,000, slightly more money than Kobayashi's contributions of $126,000.

Kobayashi held only one fundraiser this summer, telling contributors to "give what they can." Her campaign mantra is "Money power is great but people power is better."

"It's a testament to our ability that we appeal to all segments of the community - business, labor union, working-class people from Kalihi to East Honolulu to Kahaluu," Hannemann said yesterday.

Hannemann has been the most aggressive when it comes to campaign advertisements, spending nearly $480,000 on radio, newspaper and television ads, in addition to about $44,000 on filming and media consulting.

In comparison, Kobayashi spent more than $176,000 on advertisements that featured little jabs at Hannemann. Her most recent commercial featured her supporters - state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and Councilmembers Donovan Dela Cruz and Charles Djou - who are also staunch Hannemann critics.

Prevedouros, who has run a grass-roots campaign utiliz- ing the Internet and gathering supporters through e-mail, spent $10,500 on mostly radio and Internet advertisements.

According to the campaign reports, he did not receive any contribution from Cliff Slater, one of his strongest supporters and arguably the most vocal rail critic, who is independently wealthy.

Prevedouros did receive the maximum amount of $4,000 from Charley's Taxi, owned by Dale Evans, another strong rail critic, for campaign commercials running on OC16.

The mayoral candidates faced off in a televised debate Tuesday night, their last public appearance together before the primary in a week and a half.