Dad's legacy still a powerful ally for Matsunaga
• 2002 General Election Voter's Guide
By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer
Second of two profiles of the candidates for lieutenant governor.
On the day of his father's funeral 12 years ago, Matt Matsu-naga felt the weight of Spark Matsunaga's legacy settling upon him.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
It was the elder Matsunaga's dying wish that his son inherit his seat in the U.S. Senate. Instead, then-Gov. John Waihee appointed Daniel Akaka, saying that the 31-year-old Matsunaga wasn't qualified.
After losing to Neil Abercrombie for a seat in the U.S. Congress in 1990, Matt Matsunaga has found success in local politics.
Twelve years later as a state senator, Matsunaga, now 43, can still taste the disappointment. But Spark Matsunaga's name continues to offer him support as he runs for lieutenant governor for the Democratic Party.
Matsunaga prefers to believe that people are smart enough to vote for the candidate and not the legacy. Yet even he acknowledges that being the son of a Hawai'i political legend gave him many of the 99,163 votes he won in the primary election, far more votes than even the Republican and Democratic candidates for governor.
"Obviously, we were running against Sparky, no doubt," said Donna Ikeda, a former state legislator and one of the Democrats Matsunaga beat in the primary. "He's playing up the fact that he's following his father's footsteps. I remember when Matt got into the Legislature and he said time and again that he was his own person and he would not run on his father's reputation."
The Democratic ticket of Matsunaga and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono — two Japanese American, longtime politicians — has been criticized as too narrow in its ethnic appeal and too much a part of the Capitol gang in a campaign where "change" is the dominant theme.
But the Matsunaga name carries powerful potential to lock down voters for the Democrats, said Chad Blair, a political science instructor at Hawai'i Pacific University and the author of "Money, Color and Sex in Hawai'i Politics."
"That name," he said. "You can't dismiss that. I wouldn't be surprised if many people saw the name and said, 'I'd like to see that dynasty continue.' "
Unpopular decisions
Democratic leaders have long been grooming Matsunaga for bigger things, although they haven't always been happy with him.
In 1993, Matsunaga was among the state senators who voted down Waihee's nomination of Sharon Himeno to the state Supreme Court. Himeno was the wife of then-Attorney General Warren Price and her nomination generated public outrage at her perceived absence of credentials.
"The appointment smacked of political payoff," Matsunaga said recently in his spartan campaign headquarters on Kapi'olani Boulevard, a few doors from other Democratic candidates. "Some political supporters had some harsh words for me."
Matsunaga quickly dismissed any suggestion that his vote on Himeno was payback for Waihee selecting Akaka over him three years earlier for his father's Senate seat.
"This was the highest court in the state," he said, "and I didn't think she was qualified."
The vote on Himeno "demonstrated an independence," said Matsunaga's friend in the state Senate, Les Ihara Jr., D-10th (Waikiki, Kaimuki). "He'll think for himself and decide for himself.
"I've always had great respect for him. He thinks with integrity, and he's clear and he's decisive on what his views are."
Clayton Hee, the other major contender who ran for lieutenant governor against Matsunaga, called him "a real nice fellow, a nice guy. His greatest strength is his compassion for people. In that regard, he has much of his father's qualities. I believe it's a great strength to have compassion for people. He demonstrated that during the campaign. That, to me, is expected of a Democrat."
Campaign criticism mounts
Ikeda had taken out ads during the primary campaign that said Matsunaga's voting record didn't track with his campaign statements on election reform and decentralizing the state school board.
In the Senate this year, Matsunaga voted to break up the school board into separate districts. Now, Matsunaga says he is in favor of keeping the state school board intact, a position he shares with Hirono.
Matsunaga explained that the bill never was meant to pass in its original form and that he initially supported it just to keep the debate alive.
Ikeda also criticized Matsunaga for voting for a campaign reform bill that would have prohibited direct political contributions by corporations and labor unions but exempted legislators. The bill was vetoed by Gov. Ben Cayetano because of the legislative exemption.
"I agree it should include legislators," Matsunaga said. "But it's better to have half a loaf now instead of get nothing. We should have passed what we had and fixed it next session."
Mother inspires son
This year, Matsunaga almost didn't run for statewide office.
His mother, Helene, 77, suffers from Parkinson's disease and moved back to Hawai'i 18 months ago from Maryland. Matsunaga wondered how he could take care of his mother and run a campaign.
Then, as he had with his father, Matsunaga found inspiration from his mother's words.
The Democratic Party was in trouble, with several high-profile convictions and investigations of politicians, and faced its strongest challenge from a Republican in 40 years.
"My mom," Matsunaga said, "said the state needs me at this pivotal juncture."
Matsunaga sat down with 10 advisers and they debated whether his best chances came from running for state Senate, lieutenant governor or governor. With the Democratic governor's race in a free-for-all, Matsunaga and a few of his advisers strongly considered going for the top office.
"I was very tempted," he said. "If I had more time and more money I would have seriously considered it."
A reason for rhymes
Matsunaga was born Nov. 22, 1958, at Queen's Hospital, the youngest of five children. He lived in Palolo and St. Louis Heights until his father's political career took the family to Congress as a U.S. representative.
Matsunaga grew up in Montgomery County in Maryland, played high school basketball, football and soccer, and ran track. He went to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., and became a certified public accountant, but Spark had bigger plans.
"I remember my dad saying, 'Do you want to be a CPA for the rest of your life?'" Matsunaga said. "And I said, 'No.' "
Matsunaga went to law school at Georgetown University Law Center specifically as a step toward a political career. He moved back to Hawai'i in 1985, passed the state bar and is now both a CPA and partner with the Honolulu law firm of Carlsmith Ball.
He has taken leave from the law firm to run for lieutenant governor and continues to draw a salary based on his partnership agreement. Matsunaga is divorced and has two daughters — ages 8 and 6 — who attend Punahou School.
After his father's death, Matsu-naga ran for Congress in 1990 and lost to Neil Abercrombie. He found success instead in local politics walking the 9th Senate district — Wai'alae and Palolo — door-to-door. He was elected for the first of three times in 1992.
Along the way he developed a quirky habit of inserting rhymes, or perhaps poems, into his speeches on the Senate floor.
The Senate was debating a bill to tighten campaign spending — a measure supported by Robert Watada, the Campaign Spending Commission director.
In his speech Matsunaga added the line inspired by the movie, "The Lion King": "Timon and Pumba say, 'Hakuna Matata' and campaign spending has Bob Watada."
Matsunaga also argued in favor of a bill allowing a pilot program to grow industrial hemp and addressed the differences between hemp and its cousin, marijuana.
"Linda Lingle is not (Maui Mayor) Kimo Apana," Matsunaga said in his speech, "and industrial hemp is not marijuana."
"People say I have a very good sense of humor," Matsunaga said. "If you can make your point and then also make a humorous point, people tend to understand that point a little better and appreciate it."
Spark Matsunaga was an avid poet and helped establish the position of U.S. poet laureate. But calling Matt Matsunaga's phrasing on the Senate floor poetry "would be generous," said state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Barbers Point, Makaha).
"I like Matt. He just has this unusual sense of humor about how he does things," she said.
Hanabusa considers Matsunaga a liberal on social issues who could nevertheless be swayed by a convincing argument.
"If you could explain your position to Matt," she said, "you had as good a chance at persuading him if you had the argument. He was not motivated by any kind of hidden agenda. You could talk to Matt."
Notable achievements
In 1997, Matsunaga helped push through a package of 60 rights and benefits for "reciprocal beneficiaries," couples who can't legally marry. The package was a response to the debate over same-sex marriage that was defeated by voters.
He supported Margery Bronster — who took on the powerful Bishop Estate and sued oil companies over gasoline pricing — for renomination as Hawai'i's attorney general in 1999.
Matsunaga called the vote against her "a dark day for the state." The same year, he voted for a bill that tightens fireworks regulations.
Last year, Matsunaga supported raising the minimum wage from $5.75 to $6.25 per hour in 2003.
He joined the overwhelming chorus of legislators who overrode a governor's veto for the first time in Hawai'i since 1957. The issue was over a new law that makes it illegal for 14- or 15-year-olds to have sex with adults who are at least five years older.
This session, he supported bills that:
• Repealed the poorly executed photo traffic enforcement — or "Van Cam" — program
• Allow terminally ill patients to obtain prescription drugs to end their lives
• Establish a state program to offer discount drugs
• Regulate health insurance rates
• Set up a tax credit of $75 million for private development at Ko Olina Resort and Marina
• Raise the cigarette tax from 5 cents for each cigarette up to 7 cents by 2004
• Change sentencing for drug convictions, including requiring first-time, non-violent drug offenders to be sentenced to probation with drug treatment
On the campaign trail, Matsunaga talks about his work as co-chairman of the Judiciary Committee, a position he compares to a third baseman "who takes the hot line drives without much time to react."
He cites bills that upgraded auto theft from a misdemeanor to a Class C felony, eliminated the requirement that police catch methamphetamine labs in operation, extended the length of restraining orders and required police to obtain all of the registered guns of people who have restraining orders against them.
Continuing the legacy
As the campaign counts down to the Nov. 5 election, Matsunaga thought back recently to his father's final days and his dying wish for his youngest son.
And he thinks about the strangers who stop him and say they remember his father.
"Some people will come up to me and actually start to cry when they talk about how he helped them," Matsunaga said. "I certainly feel that responsibility to carry on his legacy."
Reach Dan Nakaso at 525-8085 or dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.
