The mood was quiet as strains of Larry Rivera compositions wafted in the Sunday breeze. “We’re where we need to be,” state Sen. Gary Hooser told a group of more than three dozen friends and supporters who turned out for
The mood was quiet as strains of Larry Rivera compositions wafted in the Sunday breeze.
“We’re where we need to be,” state Sen. Gary Hooser told a group of more than three dozen friends and supporters who turned out for the opening of his Kaua‘i campaign office.
The Democratic senator representing Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau is running for the U.S. House of Representatives seat vacated by Ed Case, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat. Hooser said there are eight candidates vying for the 2nd Congressional District office, and although he doesn’t consider himself the leader, he feels he is one of the front-runners at this point in time.
The office will be headed up by Hooser’s Kaua‘i campaign coordinator Lani Kawahara, who has been involved in many of his previous elected office bids.
Hooser, a Hawai‘i state senator for the 7th Senatorial District since 2002, said he is the only active Neighbor Island candidate in the race. Hooser was also a member of the Kaua‘i County Council from 1998 to 2002.
“There are issues particular to Neighbor Island residents like having to fly to O‘ahu for medical treatment and the future of agriculture,” Hooser said, noting that as a resident of Kaua‘i, this gives him a perspective that O‘ahu candidates don’t have.
Hooser said there have been some of his supporters who expressed their thoughts about him leaving the state. To this, Hooser said he felt he could do more for the state and Kaua‘i in the national Legislature instead of the state Congress.
“It has been and honor and a privilege to have served as your councilman and senator,” he said. “But the job can go on forever. The work is never done and I want to serve at this higher capacity.”
Hooser was flanked by his wife, Claudette, and Kawahara as Malcolm Miner presided over the short dedication ceremony next to the MGM Travel Service in Lihu‘e.
For more information on Hooser’s bid for Congress, visit his Web site at www.garyhooserforcongress.com.
• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com.
