The city clerk's office yesterday rejected Kirk Caldwell's bid for a City Council seat, putting the state House majority leader out of the election entirely and leaving his council opponent, Duke Bainum, unopposed.

The clerk's office found that Caldwell's nomination papers were invalid because he had not properly withdrawn from his House re-election campaign by the July 22 filing deadline.

That meant, for a brief time, Caldwell was running for two seats at once, which is not allowed.

The city clerk's decision was preliminary but Caldwell, as he had promised, agreed to abide by it rather than wait for a ruling by the Circuit Court. Caldwell's disqualification leaves former councilman Bainum as the only candidate to replace City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who is running for mayor.

"The lawyer in me wants to fight this decision," Caldwell, D-24th (Manoa), said in a statement.

"However, when we asked for the city clerk's determination last week, I made a commitment to the voters and to myself to stick with the city clerk's decision. I am out of the race and there will be no appeal."

CHANGE OF EVENTS

Bainum, 56, said in a statement a cloud had been removed from the campaign. He said he has previously represented much of the council district as a state House and council member so he would not be a newcomer.

"I love this city," said Bainum, who rented an Ala Wai apartment on the filing deadline to establish residency for the council race. "That is why we must all come together, work hard and make this city even better. That is why I decided to run for the City Council."

The city clerk's decision ended a breathtaking reversal of Caldwell's political fortunes over the past 10 days. His rush to respond to Kobayashi's late announcement that she would run for mayor led to the sloppy paperwork that has now removed him from both the council and House campaigns.

Caldwell said he chose to run after talking with his wife, Mayor Mufi Hannemann and other friends and supporters. The council would have given him a larger constituency to represent and, some observers say, a bigger platform if he had later wanted to run for mayor, the U.S. Congress or other higher office.

But other observers questioned why Caldwell would take such a risk against Bainum, who has high name recognition and personal wealth to use on his campaign, when he was almost assured of re-election and continued influence in the House.

'NO REGRETS'

Caldwell, who will return to the practice of law, said he does not regret his decision.

"There's no regrets," he said. "I live with the decision I make. And I know that I'm still going to be involved in public service in some way. I'm passionate about it. I found out by running that I really like this stuff. I'm going to stay involved, and I love the Manoa community."

A.J. Halagao, Hannemann's campaign coordinator, said it was unfortunate that voters will not have a choice.

"We applaud Kirk Caldwell's efforts to enter the City Council race after it became clear that Duke Bainum was in line for an uncontested seat," Halagao said in a statement. "Recent news reports have raised disturbing questions about the circumstances surrounding Duke Bainum's surprise decision to run for Kobayashi's abandoned council seat."

State House Speaker Calvin Say, D-20th (St. Louis Heights, Palolo Valley, Wilhelmina Rise), said Caldwell's departure from the House would be a "tremendous loss" for his constituents in Manoa. "He's a really dedicated, passionate, intellectual young man," Say said.

Caldwell, 55, had been among those who were helping Say keep his leadership position — which has been threatened by a group of dissidents — and he may continue to walk targeted House districts on behalf of Say loyalists and other Democrats.

City Clerk Denise DeCosta said in a statement that her ruling was based on the state Office of Elections decision that Caldwell had not officially withdrawn from his House campaign until July 23, the day after the filing deadline. DeCosta had personally called the elections office on July 22 to notify them of Caldwell's withdrawal, but the state office did not officially record it until it was presented in writing the next day.

STRICT DEADLINE

DeCosta said the question of whether Caldwell had the required number of signatures from registered voters for the council race was essentially moot. But she chose to explain what happened because she said the integrity of elections officials had been impugned.

DeCosta said an employee of her office volunteered to provide a final signature for Caldwell after the deadline as a "well-intended gesture." She said the signature was obtained after Caldwell had filed but before the payment of fees.

DeCosta said the state elections office interpretation of a strict filing deadline was a departure from office practice and "surprising and philosophically troubling."

"The new 'signed, sealed and delivered' policy will place late-entry candidacies at the mercy of election offices and their ability to issue nomination papers near the 4:30 p.m. deadline," she said. "The policy may also have an adverse effect upon a candidate's ability to circulate nomination papers and complete their candidate filing process.

"Election officials past and present have always done their best to afford the greatest access to the ballot. This new policy ensures that this will no longer be the case."

Todd Eddins, an attorney for Bainum who also represents a retiree who filed a challenge against Caldwell's paperwork, said it appeared that city staff had mobilized to help Caldwell.

"I don't think impropriety should be whitewashed or thrown under the rug," he said. "I think, for the benefit of the process, so that this does not happen again, everything does need to be transparent."