Posted on: Thursday, June 3, 2004

Republican Tanonaka seeks to challenge Abercrombie

Advertiser Staff

Dalton Tanonaka, a former Republican candidate for lieutenant governor and former television and newspaper journalist, is running for Congress.

Dalton Tanonaka

Tanonaka, 49, will run as a Republican and oppose incumbent Democrat Rep. Neil Abercrombie for the 1st Congressional District (Urban O'ahu).

He said he would use his contacts in the Asia-Pacific region to help Hawai'i's delegation become "the real political bridge to Asia." He also said Hawai'i's congressional delegation should include someone of the same political party as the White House and the House and Senate majorities, which are now Republican.

Tanonaka, who was born in Kohala on the Big Island, ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2002 and previously anchored news and business programs for CNN, CNBC and NHK in Asia. He has served as special adviser for international relations at the University of Hawai'i and was executive director of Honolulu's Office of Economic Development.