Cayetano says Lingle jumped the gun in '98
By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Republican gubernatorial candidate Linda Lingle was so confident during her 1998 campaign that before the election she was already picking out drapes, literally, said Gov. Ben Cayetano.
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Cayetano told reporters yesterday that during Lingle's race against him four years ago her supporters went into his State Capitol office to measure curtains and give would-be staff an orientation.
Linda Lingle unsuccessfully ran for governor in 1998 against Ben Cayetano and she's running again this year.
"They were so overconfident they had people come in here and size up the curtains," he said. "I'm not kidding. They had people come in here and ask us for the list of all of the appointees because they were getting ready to make their appointments.
"They had some people come in here, a guy come up here with two women who are, I guess, going to be the receptionists and the guy said, 'You'll be sitting here and here.' I'm not kidding. This all happened. So it was sweet to win this race."
Lingle's campaign manager, Bob Awana, denied Cayetano's comments. In a written statement, Awana said: "The comment today by Governor Cayetano regarding our 1998 campaign lacks foundation, is completely outrageous and is simply not true. The 1998 campaign is over and it is time for everyone to move on to solve the real problems facing our state."
Lingle is running for governor again this year. Cayetano trailed Lingle in opinion polls until the final days of the 1998 campaign and squeaked past her by about 5,200 votes. His margin of victory was 1.3 percentage point — the smallest ever in a Hawai'i gubernatorial race.
