Getting to know Linda Lingle
| • | Republican turnout helped carry Lingle |
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
The shy teenager has finally grown up and succeeded in her quest to become governor of Hawai'i.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser
In the long days of the campaign, Linda Lingle never lacked in confidence or convictions in her policies. But now that her personal life is about to change as well, Lingle — who still considers herself an introvert at the age of 49 — isn't sure what happens next.
"I live a very simple life," Governor-elect Linda Lingle said.
She's twice divorced and single and rents a sparsely decorated, one-bedroom condominium in an upscale high-rise within walking distance of the Capitol. She shares her home with her cat, Snooze, and a white kitten named Nani that she rescued in the final days of the campaign after a speech in Hilo.
In an interview last week, Lingle said she hadn't even thought about whether she'll move into the new, $1.2 million, 5,000-square-foot governor's residence built with private money behind the 156-year-old Washington Place.
"I live a very simple life," Lingle said. "This new house that they built is quite large."
Lingle wore an Ace bandage wrapped around a leg muscle that she said she tore from wearing high heels through long days and nights of campaigning, followed by her usual, 3,000-yard swim workouts. She was already worrying about chafing under 24-hour security. And she talked about how she's much more comfortable making a speech about public policy or meeting people one on one than attending an extravagant ball.
"I doubt she's going to enjoy all of the pomp and circumstance things," said Kitty Lagareta, Lingle's friend and political adviser. "That's just not her. There's definitely a shyness there, a little bit of reserve."
To those who have seen her only through TV commercials, Lingle comes off as polished, articulate, assertive and confident. Yet those who know her, and even Lingle herself, say her public image is the result of hard work and mental discipline through which Lingle forces herself to step outside her own, naturally insular personality. Not long after her political career began in 1980 on the Maui County Council, Lingle sharpened her public presence by joining Toastmasters for two years.
Lingle has attracted a loyal following of friends, especially during her two campaigns for governor. On the victory stage on election night, though, Lingle stood alone as her running mate, James "Duke" Aiona introduced a throng of family members.
But Lingle will have a regular companion at official social functions.
Mike Strada, 55, has stayed out of the spotlight during the past two campaigns but has been seeing Lingle off and on for five years.
"I have a friend who will escort me to the more formal things," Lingle said. "He's a friend who's very good-natured."
Strada said: "The proper quote is that we're very good friends. Because she's so busy, it's not a regular thing. But when she has some time, we get together. We talk all of the time. I show up to many of her talk-story events and campaign functions. So I see her and I give her a call to say, 'Hi.' She's really fun and a terrific woman."
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Strada was divorced six years ago after a marriage that lasted 18 years. He has a 15-year-old son named Ryan who lives with his mother in Park City, Utah. Strada calls his son every day.
Mike Strada, 55, met Linda Lingle five years ago and started dating her nearly a year after his divorce. He lives in Kailua.
Lagareta introduced Lingle and Strada at a campaign function five years ago, nearly a year after his divorce. Their first date was a movie at Kahala Mall — Lingle's a big movie fan — followed by more movies at the mall and simple dinners.
"Linda's very informal," Strada said. "She feels very comfortable in very informal places. She truly is down to earth. We used to get to the mall early and look at the stores and talk and walk around."
Strada heads "The Team at Morgan Stanley," a 12-member group that counts among its clients corporations and people with high net worth. His official title is senior vice president.
He has run several businesses in Southern California, owns three houses on or near Sunset Beach and lives in another that he owns in Kailua. He also owns two restaurants and a house in Park City.
In 1979, Strada sold his yacht-building business in Long Beach, Calif., and gathered some friends aboard a 43-foot ketch to sail around the world. He never made it past Hawai'i.
Strada likes to sail, run on the beach, scuba-dive, free-dive and swim in the ocean. "I don't like pools," he said. "The chlorine and everything. I like the ocean. I'm an ocean guy. I like the freedom of a big ocean."
Lingle prefers the confines of the pool. And she doesn't expect her four-day-a-week, 3,000-yard workouts at the Nuuanu YMCA to change.
She met her swimming partner, Brian Woolford, about five years ago at a campaign function. Woolford is the president and owner of D&D Furniture, which sells industrial office furniture, and Clear Blue Hawai'i, which manufactures a see-through canoe/kayak hybrid.
Woolford donated office furniture for her campaign headquarters and was later invited by her staff to have lunch with Lingle. Woolford was swimming at the University of Hawai'i's master's swim program and they talked about their shared passion for swimming, then decided to work out together.
They now get in the water at about 5:45 a.m. and swim in the same lane in the crowded YMCA pool, matching each other pretty much stroke for stroke for about an hour.
"I have a saying in the water," Woolford said. "A poser is someone who swims two laps and gets out. Linda's no poser. She stays in the water and does the workout."
Woolford and his wife, Vicki, also go to movies with Lingle and see her socially. He thinks that once Lingle gets out of her campaign mode and into social settings, people will see a different side.
"She's like nobody I've ever known," Woolford said. "She'll knock them dead."
Strada hopes people see the softer edges of Lingle's personality.
"It's information that she's trying to get out and she doesn't have time to show that other side," Strada said. "She's actually a very kind person and that doesn't always come through in her public life."
Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.
Correction: Mike Strada, senior vice president of Morgan Stanley, sailed a 43-foot ketch to Hawai'i. Information in a previous version of this story was incorrect.
