Posted on: Friday, June 28, 2002

Tanonaka officially in lieutenant governor race

Advertiser Staff

Former CNN International News anchorman Dalton Tanonaka yesterday filed candidacy papers to run for lieutenant governor as a Republican, pledging to use his international business knowledge to help improve Hawai'i's economy.

Tanonaka, 48, serves as a special advisor for International Relations at the University of Hawai'i, and is a business consulting partner with Grant Thornton in Indonesia.

"I will not be your traditional chief executive in waiting," he said. "You won't find me in this office. You won't find me behind the desk. You'll find me outside the state of Hawai'i seeking new business opportunities ... "

Tanonaka, born in Kohala, is married and has a 4-year-old daughter. He was executive director of the city's Office of Economic Development in 1999.

He was anchorman for the daily "BizAsia" program in Hong Kong and started his career as a newspaper and TV reporter in Honolulu. He worked as a reporter for The Advertiser in the 1970s.

Other Republicans running for lieutenant governor are retired judge James "Duke" Aiona and former state Rep. Cam Cavasso.