It’s a “can’t make this stuff up” kinda of day and the official start of the 2024 election season. While there will likely be 15 or more candidates ultimately running, as of Feb. 5 only one person Bart Thomas of Koloa has filed papers to run for election to the Kaua‘i County Council.
Kaua‘i voters should reach out to him and every future council candidate to ask why they’re running, and what they hope to accomplish. Bart can be reached at (503) 707-2239 or bjthomas0506@gmail.com
All seven council seats are up for election and all run “at large” with each council candidate campaigning in and being elected by the entire county. County council elections are “nonpartisan” and no party affiliation is listed on the ballot.
Kauai’‘s three state House seats: Rep Dee Morikawa (Koloa to Kekaha ), Rep. Luke Evslin (Wailua Homesteads to Puhi), and Rep Nadine Nakamura (Kapa‘a to Haena) are Democrats and all three are also up for election. Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami and Kaua‘i state Senator Ronald Kouchi are elected to four-year terms; these seats are not up for election until 2026.
A top 2024 statewide legislative priority of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i, and strongly supported by “good government” groups across all Hawai‘i, is the “Clean Elections” initiative or Senate Bill 2381 and House Bill 2321. These measures establish a robust public funding program for all state and county elections.
Similar to successful programs now in place in Connecticut and Maine, public funding programs provide qualified candidates with a basic threshold of campaign funding, thus removing a huge barrier of entry for new candidates.
This is potentially transformative legislation that if passed would increase electoral competition at all levels resulting in a greater diversity of life experience serving in public office, and help reduce the corrupting influence private money now has on our elections.
House Speaker Rep. Scott Saiki announced his strong support of publicly funded clean elections when he introduced HB2321.
It’s interesting however that his No. 1 lieutenant in the House, Majority Leader Kaua‘i Rep. Nadine Nakamura, also a Democrat, within one week announced her opposition. She recently told reporters that if clean election bills were actually passed into law, it would help Republicans, and “Why would we want to do that?”(Civil Beat 02-04-24)
The “Clean Election” programs have proven their value in several other states, are wildly popular among good government advocates, the top Democrat in the state House has made the initiative his personal priority, and the entire Democratic Party of Hawai“i has named this proposal a top priority.
Now, seemingly out of the blue (pun intended) the majority leader in the House, who is supposed to represent the majority of the members (all Democrats), has announced her opposition before the measure has even had its first hearing.
What’s up with that?
For many who work in and around that big square building on O‘ahu, this is a real head scratcher.
For the majority leader of the Democratic majority in the House to publicly oppose the priorities of the speaker of the House, and the Democratic Party itself, is a big deal and highly unusual.
Rep. Nakamura has had a relatively low key, but yet steady presence during her time at the capitol. When weather related disaster struck her district she successfully brought home the money needed to repair the roads and bridges. She shows up and, in general, is fairly responsive to constituents in her district.
If you are a such a constituent and the “clean elections” issue is important to you, please share your thoughts directly with Rep. Nakamura at repnakamura@capitol.hawaii.gov or 808-586-8435. Polite and professional communications only please.
Full disclosure, I am a member of the Democratic Party of Hawai‘i and just like the speaker, former governors John Waihee and Neal Abercrombie, former Kaua‘i Mayor JoAnn Yukimura, former Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell, former Hawai“i County Mayor Harry Kim, Common Cause Hawai‘i and tens of thousands of individual residents across all of the islands believe that passing a strong clean elections bill is hugely important.
•••
Gary Hooser served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Council. He presently writes on Hawai‘i Policy and Politics at www.garyhooser.blog.
