Tupola: ‘Hawaii deserves better’

LIHUE — State Rep. Andria Tupola does not waste words when asked why people should elect her as Hawaii’s next governor.

“I believe that Hawaii deserves better,” she said emphatically. “I believe that my vision for Hawaii is to help more local families stay here. So if that’s your vision, if it’s something you feel that Hawaii desperately needs, for our government to prioritize for our local families, then you should vote for me.”

The 37-year-old Republican is facing an uphill battle. She is trying to unseat incumbent Gov. David Ige, who just fended off a tough challenge from U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa in the primary.

And Hawaii is, after all, as blue as a blue state can get.

Tupola remains confident.

It was years ago, when she was on Hawaii Island for a community meeting, that something happened that let her know, right then, she had to run for the state’s highest elected office.

“I found that there were large populations of people who felt hopeless,” Tupola said. “They didn’t know how to articulate to the government. They didn’t know how to empower themselves. They felt like there was a power over them they couldn’t control.”

In that meeting, Tupola got a clear sense that people were disenchanted with politics.

The representative of state District 43 (Maili, Nanakuli, Ko Olina, Honokai Hale, Kalaeloa, Ewa) was elected in her first run for office in 2014, and was reelected in 2016. To win, she said she had to “work my butt off to convince them I was the real deal.”

A former music teacher at Leeward Community College with two degrees in music education, she let people know she was not getting into politics for power, position or a career.

It was then, and remains, about the people.

“I left that meeting knowing I could help more people and that I should prepare myself now,” she said.

So she started talking, researching, learning, growing, looking out for Hawaii’s people and being present. She also became the first Samoan/Hawaiian woman to serve as the state House minority leader, a position she continues to serve in today.

She easily won the primary with 17, 297 votes, 53 percent, to John Carroll’s 10,974, 33.7 percent, and Ray L’Heureux’s 2,885, 8.8 percent.

During a 25-minute interview with The Garden Island, she spoke quickly, clearly and directly. No doubts, no hesitation in her answers.

To defeat Ige, she plans to make strong use of social media, identifying voters, messaging them, getting them to commit to voting for her, asking for referrals, and creating a solid database of support.

Her campaign team tracks statistics daily. They don’t want to guess about the level of her support, but ask for it and know they have it.

“I think for me, making sure we stay grounded in the data and not get caught up in sign-waving” is critical, she said.

Tupola said another key to her campaign is being active and present.

“That is the polar opposite of what is happening right now,” she said.

Ige has declined to debate her, which annoys Tupola.

“I am the opposite of that. I am present and transparent. People can ask me questions. I’m trying to give people not just the option on the ballot, but the option in real life,” she said.

“So if you’re not for me, then where is your candidate? Where is he?”

Tupola questions how many times Ige has been to Kauai or stopped in at a school. She believes he should have quantifiable numbers as to how the state is doing under his watch today, and where it will be in four years.

“Those are some pretty important questions, and I don’t think people should just be giving away their vote and, moreover, I don’t think people should be having their vote be bought,” she said.

Tupola, a wife and mother of two daughters, relaxes, when she can, with running (she has completed the Honolulu Marathon twice), music and family.

But with the clock winding down toward the general election on Nov. 6, her free time is nonexistent.

“It’s very intense. Every day is very busy,” she said, noting that she recently campaigned on four islands in one day. “I just have to exert as much energy as I can for 48 more days.”

Her visits to outer islands are another key to her strategy. With the primary behind her, she and her team are “doubling, tripling our efforts, everywhere.”

“I’m really trying to make sure I’m on the Neighbor Islands more,”she said.

That’s how she meets people and hears about their concerns, and develops possible solutions for statewide issues like housing, traffic and homelessness, too.

Her most recent Kauai trip included stops in Anahola, Hanalei, Kekaha and Lihue. In Hanalei, the subject of the millions in flood relief from the Legislature came up.

“My question to them was, ‘Did you feel the impact of the money?’ and people said, ‘No.’ They said a lot of it got tied up in FEMA projects and some of it got tied up in large contracts that still haven’t been executed.”

Tupola believes her grassroots connections will be critical to her campaign. And those connections have made it clear that, across the state, the No. 1 issue for everyone is housing.

“Everybody is concerned families are getting pushed out of Hawaii,” she said.

“So if we don’t start to take some swift action in empowering local developers to build more affordable housing or if some actions are not taken, we will face a housing crisis or a huge spike in homelessness.”

She said other islands have many emergency and temporary shelters.

Kauai does not.

“To know that your island has one shelter, it’s very disheartening,” she said. “I think the tier system here to transition people from homelessness into society is really missing a lot of steps out here.”

Tupola also has a few concerns with the constitutional amendment that will go to voters Nov. 6 that would authorize the Legislature to establish a surcharge on investment real property to support public education.

One issue that came up during the debate on the amendment in the Legislature, she said, is what is the definition of “investment property.”

“It’s very vague. When we debated this bill, people asked why are we not putting the definition of what ‘investment property’ is? Because that wasn’t defined, that poses a huge problem if passed.”

The second issue is that the state has never been part of collecting property taxes.

“So are we talking about erecting a new department? What are we doing here?” she asked.

“If we’re going to tax for educational purposes, then specify where that money is going,” she said. “If it’s going to the Department (of Education), then I cannot be for that. If it’s going to the weighted-student formula, then maybe we can jump on board. If it’s going toward teachers’ salaries, yeah, we could do that.”

Tupola said her campaign has raised more than $350,000 and is holding more fundraisers so it can increase advertising and expand its message around the islands.

“That would be a great help to our race,” she said. “But the reality is going to be, can I outwork him?”

Tupola points to what she’s done in the last four years as evidence that yes, she can.

She held about 40 town hall meetings, was involved in community cleanups, organized conferences and a music festival, helped remove abandoned cars, found supplies for homeless encampments, directed traffic during water main breaks and advocated for lower electric bills.

All the while, she still voted on thousands of bills while also leading the state House Minority Caucus.

“You name it, we’re out there doing it,” she said.

“I think that’s what I’ve really done at the Legislature. I raised the bar for what a legislator should be doing. You should be in your community, letting people interact with you because at the end of the day, you’re a public servant.”

Tupola said she has always been very open with her community, which is why she was elected and then reelected.

“They can talk to me, they can ask me questions, they can come be part of the solution,” she said.

Asked what she saw as the strengths and weaknesses of the Ige administration, she said: “They do not like to make any waves. As long as you don’t make anybody mad, as long as you don’t do anything, you’ll be OK. Fly under the radar, don’t ruffle any feathers, keep going, then everything will be fine.”

But, she said, the cost of housing is skyrocketing, many businesses are struggling, the state is behind in education, and it has not made a dent in reducing its $23 billion in unfunded liabilities.

“Can you imagine if we had four more years of that? Of nothing?”

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Bill Buley, editor-in-chief, can be reached at 245-0457 or bbuley@thegardenisland.com.