Posted on: Sunday, January 2, 2005
Harris forged political career despite dislike for politics
| • | Chronology of Jeremy Harris' political career |
By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer
Jeremy Harris began his political career as an environmentalist who challenged the political establishment on Kaua'i, where many viewed him as a threat to powerful real-estate interests.
Two decades later, he was the Democratic Party's strongest candidate for governor, with years of experience and public exposure as Honolulu's mayor.
He made strong friends and bitter enemies along the way, and an embarrassing investigation into illegal campaign donations proved devastating to his political position.
Lately, he has often seemed like City Hall's political punching bag.
Harris said he's a politician who hates politics, especially the blood-sport variety.
"A lot of people find satisfaction in this kind of a job in the politics of it, in the power and the exercise of the power and the manipulation of the power," he said. "I don't really enjoy that at all. The petty political fights all the time that characterize elected office — those are just obstructions to get through in order to get something done, as far as I'm concerned. I really have not enjoyed having to fight all the political battles that go with this job."
Harris said he doesn't plan to run for public office in the future, but stopped short of ruling it out completely. He said he's committed to Democratic ideals, but worries about the party's future in Hawai'i.
"I think that what's caused the problem in the Democratic Party is that they've been unwilling to open the doors to other groups, other ethnic groups," he said. "And I think if they want to become competitive again, then that's what they've got to do. They've got to recognize that everybody who lives here, who loves this place and cares about it, has an equal right to participate in the political process.
"They should certainly have an opportunity to express themselves politically under the Democratic Party tent, and they should be encouraged to."
Harris dropped out of the 2002 race for governor amid the campaign probe, and the party lost the seat for the first time in four decades. Democrats recovered some strength in this year's election, and increased the party's majority in the Legislature. But it remains unclear whether the Democrats can field a strong candidate for governor in 2006.
Harris said he believes the party is moving in the right direction but remains hampered in some quarters by narrow thinking.
"I know how difficult the last 26 years have been in my political life, as a haole trying to get acceptance from the Democratic Party," he said. "It's very difficult, and we can't do that. We need to be inviting everyone in, regardless of whatever group they belong to."
Party veteran B. Rick Tsujimura has been on both sides of Harris. As an attorney for a major Kaua'i property owner, Tsujimura campaigned against Harris when he ran unsuccessfully to be the Garden Isle's mayor in 1984, and opposed him again in a later race for Honolulu mayor.
Tsujimura said he later became impressed by Harris' drive and determination to get things done.
By 2002, he was the co-chairman of Harris' campaign for governor. It's true that some of the party's old guard never took to Harris, but the reasons are varied and it's not easy to gauge how deep the resistance was, Tsujimura said.
"He wasn't in the old-boy network, and I think a lot of people viewed my working with him as an oddity, because if anything I knew all those old boys," Tsujimura said. "And I told them I'm supporting Jeremy because I think he's the way the future's going to be."
Harris enjoyed strong support amid many old-style Democrats, but he rubbed others wrong with his headstrong personality, Tsujimura said. And others resented him for challenging Kaua'i Mayor Tony Kunimura in 1984.
"This is a town where memories take a long time to go away, and sometimes it's generational," he said. "I think that a lot of people remember Jeremy from Kaua'i and just couldn't get past that. And I had a lot of old friends who were supporting Kunimura when he went up against Kunimura. Political guys don't forget."
After the past three years of controversy surrounding the campaign donation investigation, it seems unlikely that Harris will make a political comeback, Tsujimura said.
"With this cloud hanging over things, I don't think so," he said. "But that's not to say he's out for the count forever. It's always possible to return. But why would Jeremy Harris want to come back? Is there a challenge that would bring him back? Maybe. I can't imagine him getting back into a political scene, at least not in the foreseeable future. But I've been wrong before."
Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
| Chronology of Jeremy Harris' political career
1970: Moved to Honolulu to attend the University of Hawai'i. 1972: Moved to Kaua'i to work as oceanography teacher at Kaua'i Community College. 1978: Elected delegate to Hawai'i Constitutional Convention. Ran unsuccessfully for state House of Representatives. 1980: Elected to Kaua'i County Council, became council chairman. 1982: Re-elected to Kaua'i County Council. 1984: Ran for Kaua'i mayor; narrowly defeated by incumbent Mayor Tony Kunimura. Later hired as executive assistant to Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi. 1986: Appointed city managing director to replace D.G. "Andy" Anderson, who resigned to run, unsuccessfully, for governor. 1988: Served as acting mayor while Mayor Frank Fasi recovered from heart surgery. 1994: Became mayor on July 19, after Fasi resigned in midterm to run, unsuccessfully, for governor. Harris later won special election to complete Fasi's term. 1996: Defeated challenger Arnold Morgado to win first full term as mayor. 1998: Considers running for governor against incumbent Gov. Ben Cayetano, but decides against it. 2000: Won re-election by defeating Frank Fasi and Mufi Hannemann. 2002: Launched strong campaign for governor but later dropped out amid widening investigation of illegal campaign donations. Harris has not been charged with any crime and his lawyers have repeatedly denied that he did anything wrong. 2004: Completes term as mayor and considers teaching opportunities abroad. |
