Harris campaign slow with donor refunds
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Mayor Jeremy Harris' aborted campaign for governor has surrendered $27,350 in improper contributions to the state since January but has yet to begin refunding money to donors on a large scale, according to a report filed yesterday with the state Campaign Spending Commission.
Advertiser library photo
The Harris campaign raised $79,438 between Jan. 1 and March 12, when Harris temporarily froze his campaign due to a court challenge, then raised just $900 more before he dropped out of the race at the end of May, the report shows.
Mayor Jeremy Harris and his campaign have denied allegations of campaign fraud.
The campaign had a total of $1,121,992 available between January and June, and still has $639,193 left, according to the report.
The Campaign Spending Commission expects to bill the Harris campaign for more than $100,000 in contributions that exceeded the legal limit for a single donor or were improperly made in the names of others, commission director Robert Watada said.
The $27,350 the campaign has turned over so far represents only the amount the commission has sent out letters of demand for after processing all paperwork, he said, but the total will be much more.
"They've been pretty good about it," Watada said of the campaign. "Our demand letters have been a little slow getting out."
The commission has fined about a dozen companies and individual contributors for giving excess contributions to Harris during his 2000 reelection campaign, and Watada said more fines will be issued soon.
The City Prosecutor's Office also is conducting a criminal investigation of the campaign, which the commission requested after finding evidence that Watada said shows campaign officials circumvented contribution limits by attributing donations to people who did not give them.
Advertiser library photo
Harris was not available to comment yesterday.
Robert Watada said the Harris campaign has been "pretty good" about refunding money.
He and his campaign have continually denied such allegations and said they returned any improper contributions the campaign became aware of.
Several donations that the campaign report shows were returned to supporters before Harris dropped out of the governor's race had exceeded legal limits, a campaign representative confirmed.
About $5,000 more were returned to supporters because the checks had not yet been deposited by the time Harris quit the race, and the campaign still intends to refund what money is left after the campaign pays all its bills, the representative said.
Gov. Ben Cayetano and others have urged that Harris, who had been the front-running Democrat in the race for governor, refund the money quickly so that donors can use it to support other Democratic candidates. Campaign officials said in June that they planned to give back the money.
The report lists $139,084 spent on legal fees related to various court cases the campaign was embroiled in, plus another $57,578 for a consulting firm the campaign hired to review its accounting practices.
The report also lists $1,171 spent on food and travel by campaign volunteer Mike Amii, a Harris Cabinet member who was arrested last week on suspicion of performing campaign work on city time.
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
