Primary Election Results—THIRD READ
Kaauwai congratulates Aiona-Finnegan
Democrat team: Abercrombie, Schatz, and Larry Mehau
Neil Abercrombie 2009: A year of corruption
Wrap up articles on Gubernatorial Primaries:
WaPo: Neil Abercrombie wins Democratic gubernatorial nod in Hawaii
AP: Abercrombie wins Hawaii Democratic gov race
Roberta Sylvester, a bookkeeper, is Republican but she voted in the Democratic primary for Hannemann. She did so to lower the chances Abercrombie — the more liberal of the two — would win November's general election.
"We don't want Abercrombie," said Sylvester, of Kailua, after voting with her husband. "I thought by maybe voting for Mufi, we'd get more votes for him and not Abercrombie."
SA: Hannemann concedes, Abercrombie wins Hawaii governor's primary (Voters voted against Hannemann, not in favor of Abercrombie)
A disappointed former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann conceded shortly after 10 p.m. “Well gang, this was not exactly the kind of speech I wanted to give tonight,” he said….
Strikingly, many voters who said they preferred Abercrombie, when asked to explain their vote, said it stemmed from their dislike of Hannemann.
“He lost me even before rail,” said Maria Phillips, a nurse. “But when he said ‘You’re going to get rail whether you like it or not,’ Well … he’s always been the bully type.
“I thought Hannemann was just a little too ambitious,” said Gary Bacon, a union construction worker who lives in South Kona on the Big Island. “My union also endorsed Abercrombie, so that had an influence. There was just too much negative with Hannemann.
SA: Blowout: Abercrombie to face Aiona after trouncing Hannemann
Aiona said he plans to concentrate on economic recovery and job creation in his campaign.
"I'm looking forward to the next six weeks when we will, I hope, discuss all of the issues that are a priority for us and the people of Hawaii in a more substantive-style debate than we've had in the past four or five months," he said. "I want to make sure we talk about the issues in depth."
Aiona also said he wants to hear how Abercrombie would balance the two-year state budget, the major task for the next governor and state Legislature next year. "How are we going to craft that budget? I want to know my opponent's specific plans for how they are going to make our budget balanced for this next biennium." …
(Oh and deep down in the bowels of the article there is still this.…) Abercrombie, questioned by the news media, said he is a confirmed Episcopalian. (DePledge still lying on Abercrombie’s behalf. How embarrassing for him, but that’s the kind of personal degradation one must accept to be a Democrat flack.)
REALITY: Confirmed: Neil Abercrombie does not claim to be Episcopalian, Jerry Burris: “Abercrombie is one of just a handful of members of Congress who do not declare a religious affiliation”
Omidyar’s Kanu Hawaii scammers key to Abercrombie victory ($100/barrel oil anybody?)
Abercrombie found the rank-and-file Democrats who had supported former Govs. George Ariyoshi, John Waihee and Ben Cayetano and brought them over.
At the same time, he recruited a cadre of young, socially conscious (enlightened and progressive) Democrats from such organizations as Kanu Hawaii (who are smarter than you are and therefore entitled to rule over you.)
RELATED: Advertiser sides with “sustainability” billionaires
read more
ILind: Mufi got smoked
I did not expect Mufi Hannemann to get smoked like this!
I would certainly like to understand how the Hannemann campaign crashed so badly. He had the high visibility from his two terms as mayor and earlier years on the City Council, he had the big money, and he had most of the big endorsements. And he still got soundly trounced. Even if he had gotten all of the Republican votes cast statewide, he still would have lost.
So what happened?
Turnout. Only 41.8% of registered voters actually cast primary ballots. So nearly six out of ten voters stayed away. It would appear that many of those were probably Mufi’s voters. Unfortunately, without precinct data to see if turnout was low in areas where Mufi has drawn his votes in the past, it’s difficult to draw any conclusions.
Momentum. I don’t know how you can quantify the shift towards Abercrombie in the final days of the campaign. The late flow of money was one indicator…
(Comments show people voting against Hannemann rather than for Abercrombie. Here is the best comment…)
great sense of relief here!
Neil Abercrombie and Duke Aiona are clearly on different sides of the political spectrum — but I personally can live with either one
a lot of people can deal with a leader not reflecting their views — but nobody wants to live in fear of being beaten down for expressing them
read more
Oshiro beats Okino in closely watched Hawaii House race
Oshiro, who beat Okino by 12 percentage points, said a handful of voters he met with yesterday were concerned about the civil unions issue.
"But for a lot of people, they were looking to discuss the bigger issues like the economy, jobs and education," Oshiro said.
Okino, who faced criticism from the Democratic Party regarding his endorsements, said a loss means his retirement.
"I was going to retire anyway," Okino said. "(Losing) would make the decision for me to retire completely."
(From the comments) “I completely lost faith in Okino when he endorsed the 300 foot high rise at the old KAM drive in site. He cited it as a first of the type of rail transit development that we need. The high rise would obscure the current view of Pearl Harbor to many in the Aiea/Pearl City area and be completely out of character to current development. I think his perception of transit development is a ribbon of track paralleled by high rises.”
read more
Turnout Drops to 40.9% vs 42.35% in the 2006 Gubernatorial primary
Wrap-Up articles on Honolulu mayor’s race
KITV: Carlisle Wins Honolulu Mayor's Race
SA: Carlisle wins Honolulu mayor's race
Wrap-up articles on individual races:
Voting machines malfunction as confused voters cast spoiled ballots on election day
Voting machines malfunctioned in at least three polling sites on Oahu today and confused voters continued to try to cross party lines on their ballots.
Election officials at Kaelepulu and Maunawili Elementary Schools in Kailua where machines failed to work slid ballots into a slot on the side of their malfunctioning machines, to be counted by election officials later tonight.
But manually collecting ballots bypasses the machines' ability to detect ballots that have been spoiled by voters who cross party lines in today's primary election, said Sandra Takeshita, chairwoman of the Maunawili polling station.
So voters who filled out spoiled ballots that were not counted by machines did not have an opportunity to cast another, valid ballot, Takeshita said.
(One more reason to hold a closed primary)
RELATED: Hawaii Democratic Convention renews call for closed primary
read more
SA: Politicians must stem isles' rising poverty rate
Economic theories, and the proposals that they generate in the long-term search for livelihood solutions, can be debated endlessly. But in the short term, a growing number of people have little time to debate and no time to wait. For them, even the bare essentials -- food and shelter that a decent life requires -- are lacking.
This is not alarmist rhetoric. It's the current reality, unveiled in reports nationwide about the rising poverty levels in the wake of the Great (Obama) Recession. Whether or not the recession itself has technically ended is a question for those economists. The fact that poor people need help should be a call to action….
This election year has ushered in a wave of political turnover and a chance for fresh leadership. Choosing the right people, the ones with the best ideas, falls to the voters. They need to start asking the right questions.
And candidates, let's start hearing a few visionary answers.
read more
With China's largest carrier, Hainan Airlines, yet to take to island skies, the state is looking for other carriers to begin service to Hawaii
Here’s something that could stem poverty.
read more
Chinatown raids: HPD's gambling sweeps yielded cash, surveillance equipment and gaming machines, but no arrests
On Wednesday night, Chinatown bike patrol officers responded to reports of gunfire and a robbery on the second floor at 162 N. King St. When they got upstairs, they found no evidence of either a robbery or a shooting — but they did find about a dozen illegal video gaming machines.
On Sept. 8, acting on tips from the public, officers with search warrants raided two casino-type gaming dens, one at 1157 Maunakea St. and the other at 111 N. King St.
All three operations were on the upper floors over businesses such as banks, well-known restaurants and a Chinese herbs store.
read more
Kona Hospital Foundation leader indicted for forgery
Cheryl Holdcroft, former chief development officer for the Kona Hospital Foundation and the president of several community organizations, was indicted by a grand jury on six counts of Class - felony forgery, one count Class B felony theft and a charge of being an accomplice.
read more
Academy plans cut military activity
The Hawaii National Guard is moving forward with plans to convert a shuttered Big Island prison into a Youth Challenge Academy, but after community opposition (from the usual anti-military activists) it has dropped a proposal to train soldiers and build a pistol range and helicopter landing zones on the grounds .
The state Board of Land and Natural Resources on Sept. 9 approved a transfer of management of about 600 acres at the former Kulani Correctional Facility in South Hilo to the state Department of Defense.
The National Guard operates a Youth Challenge Academy program for at-risk, high school-age students at Kalaeloa on Oahu.
About 400 youths apply for each of the 5 1/2 -month, quasi-military residential education programs that are held twice a year at Kalaeloa, but the academy has space for only about 125 students, officials said.
SA/AFSC: Defense spending needs to be put on the table (Pacifists doing their best to promote war by disarming America)
read more
Sending a meth message, does it work?
Progressives continue to look for ways to tear down the Hawaii Meth Project.
RELATED: http://www.hawaiimethproject.org/index.php
read more