The nod
By ddepledge
Two prominent interest groups — the Hawaii Government Employees Association and the Sierra Club Hawaii chapter — announced endorsements on Wednesday for state House and Senate campaigns.
The state’s largest public-sector labor union sided with several challengers over incumbents and had a few other interesting picks, including dissidents over lawmakers loyal to House Speaker Calvin Say:
*Hawaii County Councilman Donald Ikeda over Sen. Gilbert Kahele in SD1.
*Sen. Brian Taniguchi over Sen. Carol Fukunaga in SD11.
*Former Rep. Alex Sonson over Sen. Clarence Nishihara in SD17.
*Nicole Velasco, who used to work for the state auditor, over Honolulu City Councilman Romy Cachola in HD30.
*Rep. K. Mark Takai over Rep. Heather Giugni in HD33.
*Former Sen. Eloise Tungpalan over former television reporter and U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye aide Gregg Takayama in HD34.
*Businessman Hanalei Aipoalani over Rep. Karen Awana in HD43.
*Rep. Jessica Wooley over House Majority Leader Pono Chong in HD48.
The influential environmental group also had some interesting choices:
*Former Sen. Lorraine Inouye over Sen. Malama Solomon in SD4.
*Fukunaga over Taniguchi in SD11.
*Laura Thielen, a director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources under former Gov. Linda Lingle, over Sen. Pohai Ryan in SD25.
*Keiko Bonk, a former Hawaii County Councilwoman and an environmental activist, and Dwight Synan, a real estate broker, over Say in HD20.
*Takai over Giugni in HD33.
*Takayama over Tungpalan in HD34.
*Former Miss Hawaii Lauren Cheape, a Republican, over Jake Bradshaw, who served in the Navy and is active with young Democrats, in HD45.
*Wooley over Chong in HD48.
Political Radar
June 20th, 2012 at 9:16 pm
Interesting, indeed. Biting the hand that didn’t feed them, I’d say.
Did Eloise Yamashita Tungpalan serve in the House? I thought she was a senator.
June 20th, 2012 at 10:43 pm
Shaking head.
June 21st, 2012 at 1:58 am
While Mark Takai is a dissident, I think that Heather Giugni is beholden to no one and is a fresh independent voice. I would really like her to get elected! She is pretty pono.
July 15th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Funny how it looks when combining Hawaiian words with English.
Somehow the word loses it’s meaning through translation.
August 1st, 2012 at 2:29 am
Doesn’t ‘dissident’ lend itself to independence, or at least independence of thought. i would like to see Ms. Guigni beholden to a few issues, carefully articulated, less airy and more precise so i could possibly agree that she may be an independent voice but am hearing nothing new that has not been recycled a few times over by other people.