Fasi endorses Hannemann in mayoral race

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

Former Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi said he will help Mufi Hannemann campaign for mayor "in any way, shape or form that's legal," but that his own days of running for public office are over.

Former Mayor Frank Fasi yesterday endorsed Mufi Hannemann during a news conference at Hannemann's campaign office. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Fasi, who was mayor for 22 years before 1994, won nearly 10 percent of the vote for mayor in the Sept. 18 primary election. Duke Bainum won 45 percent, and Hannemann won 42 percent. Bainum and Hannemann face a Nov. 2 runoff.

Hannemann said Fasi's endorsement would give his campaign a "tremendous" boost and be a "big key" to victory.

"I have to say this has to rank as one of the greatest highlights and achievements of my public service career thus far, to have the endorsement of a man that I have respected and admired greatly through the years," said Hannemann, during a news conference with Fasi.

Two Honolulu political analysts said they believe Fasi's endorsement will help Hannemann, but that it doesn't necessarily mean Fasi supporters will vote for Hannemann as a bloc.

"It can't hurt Mufi, but I don't know if it does very much," said Neal Milner, a political science professor at the University of Hawai'i.

Fasi won his highest percentage of votes in several areas that Hannemann carried, such as 'Ewa Beach, Wai'anae and Nanakuli. The endorsement could increase voter turnout in those areas to help Hannemann, and it could help demonstrate that Hannemann's campaign has momentum, Milner said.

Dan Boylan, a political commentator and history professor at the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu, said the endorsement would probably carry weight with some older voters, and those staunchly loyal to Fasi. But that's not necessarily enough to deliver the election to Hannemann, Boylan said.

The larger challenge is to win support of the many Republicans who didn't vote in the primary but are expected to turn out strongly for the general election, he said. Many live in the eastern part of the island, which largely supported Bainum in the primary.

"My gut feeling is that more of those votes are going to tilt toward Duke Bainum than they are toward Mufi," Boylan said.

Bainum said he had not directly sought an endorsement from Fasi, and that he had believed Fasi would remain neutral in the runoff.

"Mr. Fasi led the city in a different era, in a more traditional way," Bainum said. "If people had wanted a traditional way, then I think either Fasi or Mufi would have gotten the most votes (in the primary), and that's not the case. People do want change, and that's what we offer them."

Fasi had repeatedly stated before the primary that he did not believe either Hannemann or Bainum were qualified to be mayor. Yesterday, he said he believed Hannemann was more qualified than Bainum, and that his earlier statements had been meant to bolster his own candidacy.

Fasi stepped down early in his last term as mayor, in 1994, to run his fifth losing campaign for governor, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1996 and 2000.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.