Posted on: Saturday, October 23, 2004

Campaign money flows freely

By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau

A sampling of campaign committee finance reports filed yesterday shows a lot of money being collected and spent in some of the more closely watched legislative races, with some candidates collecting more than $50,000 for House seats as the election season winds down.

And in a state where the combination of being a Democrat and an incumbent can translate into a big money advantage over a Republican challenger, at least some GOP upstarts are showing this year that they can raise the same amount of green as their opponents, if not more.

The numbers also are proof that the Republicans are taking no prisoners in their quest to gain a better foothold in the Democratic-dominated state Legislature, where the GOP trails

36-15 in the House and 20-5 in the Senate. The Republicans need to hold onto the seats they have and gain 11 more in order to win control of the House. But they need 18 seats total to sustain any attempted overrides Democrats may try against vetoes by Republican Gov. Linda Lingle.

First-time Republican House candidate Kymberly Pine had raised $72,629 as of Monday in her quest to unseat incumbent Rep. Romy Mindo, D-43rd ('Ewa Beach, West Loch), who had raised $45,027. Pine has $37,511 in her campaign war chest while Mindo has $10,124.

On the Windward side, GOP challenger Keoki Leong had raised $56,780 to date in his bid to knock off Rep. Ken Ito, D-48th (Kane'ohe), who reported receipts of $44,585. Leong has $9,900 left on-hand to Ito's $6,745.

Also running nearly neck-and-neck in receipts are candidates battling it out for the 51st House District (Waimanalo, Lanikai). Upstart Wilson "Kekoa" Ho had raised $61,823 while incumbent Rep. Tommy Waters reported receipts of $62,154. Ho has $21,059 left while Waters has $20,692.

And very close in receipts are Republican challenger Karen Awana and incumbent Rep. Mike Kahikina, D-44th (Nanakuli, Honokai Hale). Awana reported $30,517 in receipts while Kahikina had raised $30,440. Awana has $15,717 cash on hand while Kahikina has $5,236 left to spend.

In the 41st House District (Waipahu, Village Park, Waikele), first-term Democratic Rep. Jon Karamatsu had raised $42,377, significantly more than the $33,375 raised to date by Republican challenger Rito Saniatan. But Saniatan reported $17,947 left while Karamatsu has $10,302.

Republican Rep. Corinne Ching, R-27th (Liliha, Pu'unui), had raised $35,663 while Democratic challenger Stefanie Sakamoto had raised $26,946. Ching reported having $23,601 left in her war chest while Sakamoto has $10,163.

In a key Senate race, Democrat Clayton Hee received $110,400 in receipts so far in his bid to win the 23rd District seat that includes Kane'ohe and Kahalu'u. That's far more than Republican candidate Jim Henshaw, who reported receipts of $25,439.

Hee, who beat incumbent Melodie Aduja in the primary, reported a cash balance of $20,358 more than the $3,720 reported by Henshaw.

The general election is Nov. 2.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.