Democrats face fallout for endorsing Lingle

By Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

Some Democrats who publicly endorsed Republican Linda Lingle in her successful gubernatorial campaign last year have received a letter from the Hawai'i Democratic Party's O'ahu County Committee asking them to resign from the party.

O'ahu County Chairman Jimmy Toyama said the O'ahu County Committee sent letters dated Feb. 26 to five Democrats who were involved in the Democrats for Lingle/Aiona coalition last year. He said party by-laws prohibit publicly supporting or campaigning for a candidate of another party and that he had an obligation to make sure members adhere to the rules.

Toyama declined to release the names of those who received the letters.

But interim party chairman Mark Forman made it clear the O'ahu County Committee's letter calling for the members' resignation does not reflect the beliefs of the entire Hawai'i Democratic Party. The Maui, Hawai'i and Kaua'i County Committees did not ask members to resign, said Jill Tokuda interim executive director for the party.

"To expel members of the Democratic Party because of their public support for a Republican candidate would go against our party beliefs of inclusiveness and tolerance," Forman said. "Rather than reprimanding them, we should focus on developing strategies to retain and attract new members."

Forman said when the O'ahu County Committee called for the expulsion of the members, former party chairwoman Lorraine Akiba and members of the state executive committee spoke against it.

Toyama said: "I think the spirit is nice, but inclusiveness and tolerance doesn't mean that one has license to do something contrary to the rules, and I think we need to understand that issue and place the act of the five people in that context.

"People who are members of the party have an obligation to follow the rules of the party. And if one is in conflict with it, one has a choice to ... resign and then take a position that is opposite of our party."