Nishimura v. Williams
By ddepledge
Former state Rep. Hermina Morita and Kauai Democrats were vindicated on Monday when the state Intermediate Court of Appeals ruled that Republicans should not have been allowed to field a replacement candidate against Morita last year.
The appeals court found that David Hamman failed to properly fill out his candidate paperwork and was never an official candidate before the filing deadline. The court ruled that elections officials should not have given Republicans the three days allowed under state law to find replacement candidate Harry Williams.
Hamman acknowledged at the time that he deliberately filed and withdrew before the filing deadline to give the GOP more time to find a challenger to Morita. Hamman instead ran for state Senate.
Morita defeated Williams. She later resigned to take a spot on the Public Utilities Commission. Hamman lost his Senate race.
Political Radar
October 24th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
Hamman deserves respect for the unmitigated gall he demonstrated when he admitted he had only filed in order to game the system. It was a cynical move, boldly played. He was a Republican, but the abusive he engaged in was his own sin and could not be held against Republicans generally.
Until the Kauai Republicans, as a group, embraced his antics, at which point the GOP, as a whole, demonstrated their contempt for Hawaii’ election law. Kauai voters saw through the chicanery and voted for Mina.
But the bad karma remains attached to the GOP as a whole. No class.
Though it pales in comparison with the nationwide efforts of Republicans to suppress the voting rights of minority and low-income voters. Sometimes it appears the GOP has embraced madness.
October 26th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
No ethics. I would call this “Bachi”