Lingle's war chest far ahead of others'

By Kevin Dayton and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

In the past six months, the advantage in campaign fund-raising has dramatically shifted from the leading Democrat running for governor to the leading Republican.

The money race Figures for money raised and spent are for the period from Jan. 1 to June 30, 2002. Cash on hand is as of June 30 and may reflect money raised before the current filing period.

• GOVERNOR D.G. "Andy" Anderson (D) Raised: $219,865 Spent: $177,020 Cash on hand: $44,749

Ed Case (D) Raised: $254,434 Spent: $227,887 Cash on hand: $85,047

Mazie Hirono (D) Raised: $392,498 Spent: $317,270 Cash on hand: $306,599

John Carroll (R) Raised: $22,104 Spent: $28,227 Cash on hand: -$4,494

Linda Lingle (R) Raised: $1,533,977 Spent: $969,560 Cash on hand: $1,126,105

• LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR James "Duke" Aiona (R) Raised: $69,544 Spent: $57,933 Cash on hand: $11,610 Cam Cavasso (R) Raised: $15,638 Spent: $15,559 Cash on hand: $78.92 Clayton Hee (D) Raised: $98,050 Spent: $17,345 Cash on hand: $80,704 Donna Ikeda (D) Raised: $35,310 Spent: $12,179 Cash on hand: $33,877 Matt Matsunaga (D) Raised: $21,363 Spent: $17,974 Cash on hand: $22,605 Dalton Tanonaka (R) Raised: $157,164 Spent: $74,654 Cash on hand: $84,574

Lingle reported that she raised $1.5 million in the first half of the year and had nearly $1.13 million cash on hand. The Democrat who reported raising the most money, Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono, had more than $306,000 cash on hand at the end of June.

That is an abrupt reversal from the end of last year, when Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris, then the Democratic front-runner, had more money than Lingle. Harris withdrew from the race for governor in May.

Lingle's strong financial position gives her a clear advantage in getting her message out statewide. And with only token opposition in the primary, Lingle can hold on to her money until the closing weeks of the campaign, while the three Democratic candidates will be forced to draw down their accounts to try to win in September.

In comments yesterday, the Democratic candidates essentially conceded that they will not be able to raise the kind of money Lingle controls and will instead focus their campaigns on direct appeals to voters on issues and by the use of numerous campaign appearances and expanded volunteer networks.

Lingle said in a prepared statement yesterday that her contributors "share my vision that Hawai'i should again be a place where families can prosper and find real opportunity."

"We are getting thousands of contributions from all kinds of people on all of the islands even though our state's economy is the worst it's ever been," she said.

All three Democrats are lagging far behind the fund-raising pace set by Gov. Ben Cayetano in his 1998 re-election effort, and Cayetano won that campaign by only about 5,000 votes.

Lingle, meanwhile, raised more money in the first six months of this year than she raised in the first eight months of 1998. Most of the other candidates said money is hard to come by, but that problem doesn't seem to be affecting Lingle.

She raised more than triple the amount raised by Hirono, and more than six times the amounts raised by Democrats D.G. "Andy" Anderson and state Rep. Ed Case.

Lingle said 27 percent of her contributions came from Mainland donors, with the rest from Hawai'i.

Case said Lingle has been raising money for four years and is getting national fund-raising support from Mainland Republicans. He said he doubts that any Democrat will be able to match her dollar-for-dollar this year.

But Case said he has always believed the general election will be won by the candidate who presents the best blueprint for change, regardless of how much money is spent.

"Our national and state political history is littered with examples of candidates who outspent others but didn't have the prevailing message, and therefore didn't win," Case said.

Hirono said it has been difficult for all of the candidates to raise money, which has made her focus on a grassroots campaign "now more than ever."

"This is going to be a power campaign, not money power. I really believe that, and I have a grassroots campaign organization on every island, I have campaign headquarters in every county, I've got hundreds of volunteers working really hard," Hirono said. "It's people, not money."

Anderson said he has not yet held a fund-raiser, but has scheduled one next month. He said he is confident he can raise the money he needs to campaign effectively.

"I think this is going to be an issue campaign," Anderson said. "I think people are tired of the fluff, so I'm going to change my strategy a little bit. I think pressing the flesh is probably more important this year, so I'm going to try to press as much as I can personally."

Office of Hawaiian Affairs trustee Clayton Hee leads the way in the Democratic lieutenant governor's race, holding $80,704 by the end of June. Board of Education member Donna Ikeda followed with $33,877 left and state Sen. Matt Matsunaga reported holding $22,605.

On the Republican side, lieutenant governor candidate Dalton Tanonaka, a former journalist, has the most money with $84,574 on hand. Retired state judge James "Duke" Aiona has $11,610 and former state Rep. Cam Cavasso has $78.92.

Honolulu Councilman Romy Cachola was the fund-raising leader among City Council candidates, carrying $227,722 on hand by the end of June.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.