Politician looks for new life, new career in Hawai'i

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Chuck Quackenbush left California politics in 2000 amid scandal. Increasingly, he commands a presence in Hawai'i GOP circles. Associated Press

In the two years since he moved his family from California, Quackenbush and his wife, Chris, have steadily worked their way into Hawai'i's political power structure. They've attended Republican fund-raisers and functions, made friends with legislators, regularly visited the Capitol and have studied the customs and workings of local politics.

"I'm not running for office anymore; I'm not a politician," Quackenbush said over coffee. "I don't ever want to go near politics again. ... But we hunger for the action. We're rarin' to go."

In recent months, the Quackenbushes' profile has risen as Chuck has tried to lay the groundwork for establishing a consulting firm for corporate and political clients. Chris has founded an outspoken group to eliminate Hawai'i's animal quarantine law.

None of their activities would be noteworthy outside political circles if it weren't for Chuck Quackenbush's spectacular downfall in 2000 in a scandal that was huge even by California standards. Now, the Quackenbushes' growing presence in local Republican circles has some wondering if Chuck Quackenbush is trying to revive his derailed political career in a place where Mainland political scandals go largely unnoticed.

Barely three years ago, Chuck Quackenbush was one of California's rising Republican stars. He was a longtime assemblyman and later state insurance commissioner who had won 13 consecutive elections and was considered a potential candidate for governor in 2002.

Quackenbush described it as "an almost perfect political career."

That career ended amid accusations: That he steered $175,000 in political contributions from the insurance companies he was supposed to regulate to repay personal loans his wife made to her own failed 1998 state Senate campaign; and that he allowed six insurers to contribute $11.6 million toward a foundation he formed to educate the public about insurance issues, and thus avoid fines of up to $3 billion for mishandling claims from the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

His critics said the foundation helped finance public-service television commercials that featured Quackenbush and elevated his political profile. Victims of the Northridge quake organized a petition drive to get Quackenbush removed as insurance commissioner.

In 1997, the Fair Political Practices Commission fined Quackenbush $50,000 over his 1994 campaign finances and an audit revealed that he had failed to disclose thousands of dollars in political donations.

His actions were investigated by a federal grand jury, the U.S. attorney's office, FBI, U.S. Postal Service and a state Senate committee that talked about impeachment before Quackenbush resigned in 2000.

Quackenbush said he didn't do anything wrong and that his resignation was the result of betrayal by people in his administration amid a poisonous political climate.

"I was completely exonerated of any allegation of wrongdoing," he said. "That could happen to any politician who lets their guard down."

Now Quackenbush, 48, and his wife, Chris, 56, have been working the halls of Hawai'i's State Capitol. Their potential influence worries people such as Donald Koelper, a Democrat and former Hawai'i legislative aide who said some of his family members suffered from the dealings of insurance companies after the Northridge earthquake.

Koelper said he was stunned when he saw Quackenbush introduced on the House floor in March 2001 by Rep. Bud Stonebraker, R-17th (Hawai'i Kai, Kalama Valley).

"If you want to run away and lay low and lick your wounds and live in exile out here, that's cool," Koelper said. "But to get back involved in politics in Hawai'i as if nothing in California ever occurred, I think they're trying to worm their way into something here. A lot of other people have been operating out of ignorance. Most people out here don't know the story."

Rep. Cynthia Thielen, R-50th (Kailua, Mokapu), said: "I know the name has been floating around here like mad recently, but I don't really know much about him. Who is he?"

The answer is a man in conflict.

Quackenbush wants to guard his privacy, if for no other reason than to protect his youngest son, and 14-year-old namesake. But nearly three years into rebuilding his life, Quackenbush clearly feels the familiar pull of politics.

"I'm a citizen and I care about Hawai'i," he said. "Every citizen in the state should be involved."

And Quackenbush's hard-earned political skills could help frame Hawai'i issues, he said, or shape politicians' messages.

"I can't help it. It's in my nature to be involved," Quackenbush said. "But the worst thing you can do is shake your fist at the system and act like you're smarter than everyone else — because you're not. I've got to watch and learn how people operate. You can effect change if you're patient."

The Quackenbushes and two of their three children arrived in Hawai'i in September 2000. Hawai'i was always the place they visited to regroup after each of Quackenbush's election victories.

"It took a while to come to terms with what happened in California," Quackenbush said. "There was shock, bitterness, soul-searching."

They lived off of investments and property in California and rented a house in Kane'ohe. Quackenbush spent the first eight to 12 months decompressing from what he called a firestorm of almost daily front-page coverage from California's biggest newspapers. They now live in a home they purchased on the Wailupe Peninsula in January.

Quackenbush competed on the Notre Dame rowing team and wears his ring from the class of 1976. He joined the Hui Nalu canoe club, where he competes in the Novice A six-man category. Being back on the water after so many years felt good for the man who might have been governor of California, if things had turned out differently.

Instead, Quackenbush spent time with his family, lifted weights and ran as he figured out his next move.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Quackenbush said he helped military intelligence officials in Hawai'i with analysis, but he declined to be more specific.

Chris Quackenbush took on the issue of Hawai'i's animal quarantine regulations and founded an organization that claims the support of thousands of people.

They also studied the local political scene. Both of them began writing letters to the editor, including one in which Chris Quackenbush blasted Hawai'i's Democratic Party and Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono in her campaign for governor.

"The prevalent corruption, failed education system and poor business climate are a direct result of their failed leadership," Chris Quackenbush wrote in one published letter.

Chuck Quackenbush co-wrote California's so-called "three-strikes" law that allows life prison terms for three felony convictions. He showed up on television recently when he appeared at a news conference called by Stonebraker to announce Stonebraker's own Hawai'i version of a three-strikes bill.

"I didn't know much about him," Stonebraker said. "People told me he's got quite a political past in California. He's quite an impressive guy, too, kind of tall and well-spoken. I was pretty impressed with his demeanor. He's a guru with policy making. ... As far as I understand, they brought charges against him and upon investigation they were all dropped and they were all seen as groundless. Chuck has been exonerated from everything."

California State Sen. Jack Scott, a Democrat, chaired the legislative committee that investigated Quackenbush and disputes Quackenbush's version of the events leading to his resignation.

"Whatever he chooses to do in Hawai'i, that's up to him and his wife," Scott said. "But if he's trying to suggest in some way or another that he was completely exonerated in California, that's an attempted whitewash. The truth was that he resigned because it was clear that he would have been impeached had he not resigned. He realized that all of his appointees that he made were removed, that two individuals were indicted. The only way you can describe it is as a scandal."

Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Hawai'i Kai), said he admires Chris Quackenbush's work through the Community Quarantine Coalition of Hawai'i and believes questions about Chuck Quackenbush are aimed at derailing the anti-quarantine effort.

"I'm a friend of his," Hemmings said. "I do not support nor condone the problems he's had. Nevertheless, that's behind him. I see this public relations smear regarding Chuck Quackenbush as nothing more than an effort on some to disparage Chris Quackenbush and the work she's doing to liberate Hawai'i from an incredibly unfair and unjustified quarantine system. Quite frankly, this story shouldn't be written. It shouldn't even be in the paper."

Chuck Quackenbush's 49th birthday is Sunday. He's already bracing for the day when he has to move up to the 50-and-over age group in paddling. But he's also preparing to open a consulting company that he plans to name Dynamic Strategies.

The "Dynamic" part of the name comes from Quackenbush's zealous belief that people have to keep moving ahead.

"Passivity has always irritated me," he said. "It doesn't get you anywhere."

Even as he tries to build a new career upon new political terrain, Quackenbush looks back to the advice he gave to the tank troops he once commanded.

"Try to stay 5 yards ahead of your own dust cloud," he said. "That way you won't get killed."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.