Hawaii Republican leaders respond to shakeup in the race for the White House
KITV: … The Ted Cruz Hawaii Campaign chairman would not say who he will vote for now. But other Republican leaders have a warning for voters.
"I think Donald Trump is somebody who is extraordinarily dangerous, he is a demagogue, he is offensive, and he really does not have the qualifications or fitness to be our nation's next president," said Republican and former U.S. Congressman Charles Djou.
"I think if you are a true sincere conservative, if you are a true sincere American, you have to be frightened by Donald Trump,” Djou said.
Trump got 42 percent of the vote, while Cruz had 33 percent in Hawaii's Republican presidential caucus back in March. Cruz got seven of the 19 delegates and his Hawaii Campaign Chairman Willes Lee is one of them.
"We are still looking forward to going to Cleveland. We'll make sure that we have a Republican nominee who will beat Clinton this fall," Lee said.
Hawaii Republican Party Chair Fritz Rohlfing says he will support Trump if he challenges Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton in the election.
"I think Hillary Clinton would be a disaster for the United States of America,” said Rohlfing.
“It's very likely Donald Trump will be the nominee and yes, I think he'll mount a strong campaign and I think it's very possible he could win," Rohlfing said.
Rohlfing believes the Republican Party will unite coming out of the Republican National Convention in July. But Lee said he fears Republicans just won’t come out to vote. Djou said no matter what, he will not vote for Trump ….
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TED CRUZ HAWAII CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCES DELEGATION TO JULY'S REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION
News Release from Hawaii Cruz Campaign May 2, 2016
HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Hawaii's leadership team for presidential candidate Ted Cruz announced the official selection of twelve island residents to serve as delegates and alternate delegates to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio this July.
These twelve individuals from across the state join delegates from across the nation for the privilege of selecting the GOP's 2016 Presidential nominee in the General Election.
After a very strong showing of grassroots support in the Aloha State's GOP Presidential Caucus held on March 8th, Ted Cruz was awarded seven delegates and six alternate delegates from Hawaii under state party rules. 12 of these 13 individuals are selected by the Ted Cruz Hawaii campaign and one is an 'automatic delegate' by virtue of a state GOP leadership post.
DELEGATES
- Willes K. Lee - Honolulu
- Rita Kama-Kimura - Mililani
- Brett Kulbis - Ewa Beach
- Timothy Means - Wailuku
- Deborah Arguello - Ewa Beach
- James O'Keefe - Hilo
ALTERNATE DELEGATES
- Steve Hinton - Waialua
- Toby Rushforth - Kaneohe
- Beverly Toomey - Honolulu
- Fern Mossman - Kailua
- Daniel de Gracia, II - Waipahu
- Michael Caputo - Keaau
Hawaii's GOP headquarters has not yet announced which of the three local RNC members is tasked to join the Cruz Hawaii delegation.
Ted Cruz Hawaii Chairman Willes Lee: "In the midst of an extraordinary election year, each of these Hawaii residents are active participants in an historic selection of a presidential nominee. Delegates in past years knew the nominee long before making airline and hotel reservations. In 2016, it appears that the Republican Party has a true race to the finish line with the winner likely decided on the convention floor. The privilege and responsibility for these island delegates and alternate delegates is rivaled only by the historic opportunity for Hawaii representatives to tip the scales in deciding our party's nominee."
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The final results from voting at Hawaii's GOP Presidential Caucus on March 8, 2016:
- Donald Trump: 43.42%, 11 delegates and 9 alternate delegates
- Ted Cruz: 32.31%, 7 delegates and 6 alternate delegates
- Marco Rubio: 13.20%, 1 delegate and 1 alternate delegate
- John Kasich: 9.99%, 0 delegates and 0 alternate delegates