Harris hopes for speedy resolution
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
Lawyers on opposing sides in the "resign-to-run" legal battle can file all of the necessary paperwork with the Hawai'i Supreme Court by the second week of April in hopes that the high court will give the matter expedited treatment, according to papers filed on behalf of Mayor Jeremy Harris yesterday.
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Harris' campaign for governor received a jolt when Circuit Judge Sabrina McKenna ruled March 11 that Harris should have resigned from office when he filed a report with the state Campaign Spending Commission May 15, 2001, indicating that he planned to run for governor this year.
Mayor Jeremy Harris is appealing a resign-to-run court ruling against him.
Harris was operating under the presumption that he had until the July 23 candidate filing deadline to resign as mayor.
But McKenna ruled that a section of the state constitution requires candidates who hold elective office to resign when they begin to campaign for another elective office and the terms of the two elective posts overlap.
Russell Blair, a former state District Court judge and former state senator, brought a lawsuit against Harris to clarify when the so-called "resign-to-run" provision on the constitution must be imposed.
In the court papers, Harris' lawyer, Robert Klein, a former state Supreme Court justice, said the high court should consider the resign-to-run questions as soon as possible.
He said Circuit Judge Simeon Acoba ruled in 1987 that Marilyn Bornhorst did not have to resign as city councilwoman until she filed papers for mayor, and the Legislature, the state chief elections officer and the state attorney general's office have all interpreted the state constitution's resign-to-run provision in a way that is inconsistent with McKenna's ruling.
"The Circuit Court's decision brings chaos to over 20 years of consistent interpretation of (the resign-to-run requirement," Klein wrote. "Such chaos affects not only ... (Harris), but also other public officials considering becoming candidates for non-coterminous offices, as well as the elections officials and circuit courts who may be called upon to pass upon their candidacy."
Klein also said Harris would suffer irreparable harm if the matter is not resolved quickly.
Harris announced March 12 that he was suspending his gubernatorial campaign until the matter is settled.
