Other campaigns appraise effects of court ruling

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser City Hall Writer

As Mayor Jeremy Harris accelerates his gubernatorial campaign since the state Supreme Court's ruling in his favor, other campaigns are shifting gears also.

City Councilman Duke Bainum said the court decision means he can keep campaigning for mayor while finishing up at Honolulu Hale. Bainum said he plans to remain on the council until close to the July 23 deadline to file nomination papers with the state Office of Elections.

"This changes nothing — it just means full steam ahead," Bainum said. He said it will give him a chance to do more work on the city budget before he leaves the council to run for the top job at City Hall.

Council terms run until Jan. 2; the next Honolulu mayor will take office Sept. 21, after that day's special election.

Councilman Jon Yoshimura, who is running for lieutenant governor, said he won't be sure what effect the ruling would have on him until he gets to read the decision.

Yoshimura said it would appear to affect him and any other county officials running for state office.

"Our terms end, but there's an overlap merely because the terms statewide are not uniform."

Terms of various state and county offices have four different start/end dates:

• People elected to the Legislature, Board of Education and Office of Hawaiian Affairs take office on the day of the general election.
• The governor, lieutenant governor and Hawai'i County officials take office on the first Monday in December.
• Kaua'i County officials step into the job on the first working day in December.
• Honolulu city government officials take office on Jan. 2.

Yoshimura has said he thinks the strict interpretation of the law is "unfair" but if the legal analysis is that he needs to resign from his council seat early, "I will."

On previous occasions, county officials such as Linda Lingle, while she was mayor of Maui County, did not have to resign their government seats in the closing months of their term even if they were seeking another government office.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Lingle campaigned for governor in 1998 while still serving as Maui mayor but she said yesterday said those circumstances were completely unlike Harris'.

Lingle's campaign for governor unfolded during the final year of her four-year term as Maui mayor, and her term as mayor overlapped with the term for governor by about a month.

Lingle said such brief overlaps do not require that candidates resign from office. She said the Harris case is very different because he announced his intention to run for governor 98 days into his four-year term for mayor.

Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono also has been watching the Harris case with interest. Hirono had intended to run for governor this year, but backed out and decided to run for mayor if Harris steps down as expected.

The issue of what to do in cases where there are brief overlaps between the incumbent's term and the office being sought "will have to wait for another day," because the Supreme Court didn't discuss that question, Hirono said.

"I think it's still a residual issue, but it's not something that I'm going to seek resolution of at this time," she said. Hirono said she believes there is language in the constitutional provision to suggest it was meant for cases where there was more than just a short overlap.

Advertiser Capitol Bureau Chief Kevin Dayton contributed to this report. Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com and Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com.