Bob Awana was more than Gov. Linda Lingle's chief of staff; he was a loyal friend and political compass, a likable insider who could open doors her Republican allies could not.

A Saint Louis School graduate and Democrat at heart, Awana was involved in virtually every important decision of the Lingle administration, from who gets hired or fired to which bills the governor should sign or veto.

Awana's resignation Thursday, after publicly acknowledging this month he was the target of an extortion plot and questioned in a federal bribery investigation, leaves a hole in Lingle's leadership team and has emotionally gutted many of her senior staff.

Outsiders, including several Democrats, said Lingle would likely survive any political fallout unless Awana or others in her administration face criminal charges or embarrassing personal disclosures. But many said a more immediate problem for the governor was how to replace someone who has been her navigator for the past decade.

Joy Watari, Awana's deputy, will serve as interim chief of staff.

"He certainly was a counselor. She trusted his advice. He was somebody who was a go-to person for her when she had important decisions to consider," said Miriam Hellreich, a prominent Republican who helped raise money and manage Lingle's re-election campaign last year. "He has good relationships with so many people, so that was an important aspect as well."

'ALWAYS IN CONTROL'

State Sen. Sam Slom, R-8th (Kahala, Hawai'i Kai), a conservative who has had his disagreements with Lingle and Awana, described Awana as among the most powerful political figures in the state. Slom said many people considered him like Lingle's Karl Rove — President Bush's top strategist.

Some conservatives have been upset with Awana, believing it was his fingerprints on the governor's decision in 2005 not to veto a county tax option for mass transit. Some also believe it was his advice, more than others', that has kept Lingle in the political center rather than advancing more traditional Republican themes.

"He was the person I think the governor listened to the most," Slom said. "Bob was always in control, and everybody knew he was in control."

Awana never sought publicity and was rarely quoted in the news media, but people at the state Capitol and in Island political circles knew his hand guided the administration.

Awana was chief of staff to former Honolulu Mayor Eileen Anderson in the early 1980s and government affairs director for Waste Management Inc. He managed Lingle's unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1998 and her first victory in 2002.

After Lingle was elected, Awana told The Advertiser in an interview that he had been conflicted about working for a Republican. "In my heart I'm a Democrat, in my head, I'm a Republican," he said. "I am a passionate person for the people. I fight for the underdog. I'm concerned about people who are less advantaged."

Awana's local contacts, and the fact he was born and raised here, gave him an ability to disarm some of the administration's potential adversaries.

Among Lingle's core decision-making team — which includes Linda Smith, her senior policy adviser, and Lenny Klompus, her senior communications adviser — Awana was the most comfortable with old-time House and Senate Democrats.

"They speak the same language," said state House Majority Leader Kirk Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa). "Awana brought a perspective to her by having grown up here that perhaps she didn't have from her other advisers. He really was her rudder. He was her grounding."

Several others mentioned Awana's connection to the so-called "Saint Louis mafia" of powerful politicians and business executives who attended the Catholic Marianist school.

"We joke about it, but there is a Saint Louis thing — and he's a Saint Louis guy," said state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, D-21st (Nanakuli), who has represented Awana as an attorney.

"The sense I've always had is that when it comes to politics for Lingle — it's Bob Awana," Hanabusa said. "I think he's always been an integral part of her political life."

Lingle made it through her first term without any damaging political or public-relations mistakes. The state Ethics Commission found in 2004 that Lingle had violated ethics law by using state resources for her education advisory committee, which repaid the state $29,843. Lingle was embarrassed in 2005 when it was disclosed that Bev Harbin, her appointment to fill a state House vacancy, had unpaid state taxes and misdemeanor criminal convictions for bad checks.

The Awana situation is much closer to home for the governor, who campaigned as a Republican who would restore ethics and integrity to government after several Democratic political scandals.

Lingle cannot distance herself from Awana or downplay his role in her success. Awana prized loyalty and, with Smith and Klompus, developed message discipline that enabled Lingle to use the power of her office and her own communications skills to compete with majority Democrats.

Some close to the situation, or familiar with Capitol politics, said earlier this week they thought Awana might be able to keep his job barring any further revelations. But Lingle's terse public statement yesterday said they had mutually concluded it was best he resign.

"I think she's going to move forward," Hellreich said. "And I don't think Bob would want it any other way."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.