July 19, 2026 News Read > Hawaii Free Press

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July 19, 2026 News Read
By Andrew Walden @ 6:53 AM :: 589 Views

Hawaii Supreme Court Opinions Designed to Inject 'Critical Race Theory' into Law?

Why Care About the Dam Special Fund

Hawaii comes in first — at being the worst state for business

Hilo Internet 'Cultist' Gets 10 Years for Child Porn

Shapiro: Disturbing Democrats Spinning out of Control

Shapiro: … One of the most personally disturbing stories I’ve read lately was about a California state senator with a long record of supporting transgender people being run out of San Francisco’s annual Trans March by a small group of agitators who falsely accused him of endorsing genocide in Gaza.

Scott Wiener is Jewish, gay and a leading candidate for former Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s U.S. House seat. He’s sponsored major legislation for transgender rights and has participated in the Trans March since its inception in 2004.

According to the New York Times, when he arrived this year he was accosted by a group of protesters over his views on Gaza. They accused him of being “genocidal” and “Zionist” and one waved a middle finger in his face while another told him he didn’t belong anymore because he was “positive on trans rights, but you’re a piece of sh-t on Gaza.”…

Read … Volcanic Ash: Politics set on the extremes bring only extreme tensions | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Case And Keohokalole Ramp Up Their Spending In Advance Of August Primary

CB: … Since January 2025 Case has raised nearly $1 million while Keohokalole, who entered the race in July that year, has pulled in $835,000.

While Keohokalole has outspent Case so far during the election cycle, Case’s campaign reported having nearly $774,000 in cash on hand at the end of June (he’d started the election cycle with hundreds of thousands already in the bank from previous campaigns) while Keohokalole reported just $178,000. …

Keohokalole has been successful garnering support from those who have long sought to undermine Case’s political career, including key figures in the Democratic establishment, who were upset with him for running against U.S. Sen. Dan Akaka in 2006. Keohokalole is also getting help from top players in the shipping industry who are at odds with Case over his opposition to the Jones Act, a 120-year-old maritime law that he blames for adding to Hawaiʻi’s high cost of living.

Keohokalole’s also won the financial support of some commercial fishing interests in the islands. Among those donating to his campaign in the last quarter were Michael Goto, who runs the Honolulu fish auction and Roger Dang, a Hawai‘i Longline Association director who was recently reappointed to the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council, which has consistently sought to undermine marine protections that Case and others in Hawaiʻi’s federal delegation have fought to preserve. …

SA: Honolulu congressional race draws national attention | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

FLASHBACK: Big Island Rancher Larry Mehau Hosts Community Rally for Sen. Akaka

Read … Case And Keohokalole Ramp Up Their Spending In Advance Of August Primary - Honolulu Civil Beat

Tight Races in Waipahu

SA: …In the 2024 general election race to represent Royal Kunia-Waipahu-Honouliuli, Republican Elijah Pierick and Campbell High School teacher Corey Rosenlee, a Democrat, saw the initial outcome flip two weeks later following a court challenge that went all the way to the Hawaii Supreme Court.

The day after the election, Rosenlee’s victory switched to a Pierick victory of just 20 votes. But Pierick’s margin of victory was small enough to trigger the only automatic recount of the 2024 general election because Hawaii election law calls for a recount “when the margin for a race or ballot question is less than or equal to 100 votes or 0.5% of the total ballots cast for the contest, whichever is lesser.”

The recount process stretched out over two weeks because the Honolulu city clerk determined that 111 mail-in ballots in the race were either not signed by voters or their signatures did not match signatures on file when they registered to vote or applied for a driver’s license or a state identification card. Of the 111 ballots in question, 64 voters did not respond to requests to resolve the signature issue and 47 did, resulting in a final count of 4,712 votes for Pierick and 4,071 for Rosenlee.

Rosenlee appealed to the Hawaii Supreme Court, which ruled on Jan. 10, 2025, that Pierick had won by just 11 votes.

Pierick gave up his House seat after two terms this year and is now running for the Senate seat held by Democratic state Sen. Rachele Lamosao (D, Pearl City-Waipahu-West Loch).

The race will help determine whether Republicans will continue to gain political ground on the west side of Oahu or whether Democrats will stem the recent run of Republican victories.

Rosenlee — the former president of the influential Hawaii State Teachers Association union — has since gone on unpaid leave from teaching history and government at Campbell to focus full time on his third consecutive run to represent Pierick’s old House seat.

In the Democratic Party primary, Rosenlee’s running against Loren Keola Doctolero.

Doctolero’s campaign website said he has worked for more than a decade in “community-centered roles across nonprofit, cultural, and youth-serving organizations. He has led large public events, managed operations and budgets, supervised teams and volunteers, and partnered with local organizations to deliver programs that serve thousands.”

He is the son of a Native Hawaiian mother and an immigrant father from the Philippines who served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army, according to the campaign.

The Republicans in the primary are Danny Degracia and Wayne Kaiwi….

MEANWHILE: Long Lines Suppress Votes on Election Day: Election Officials Plan to do it Again in 2026

Read … History shows every vote counts in Hawaii legislative races | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Honolulu Council Dist 4 Heading for Runoff?

CB: … laying out of the path to political victory that Waters needs to follow that is a central part of the latest Tulchin poll. The survey notes that with 3 in 10 voters undecided the field could shift, presumably away from Waters, and goes on to helpfully lay out a roadmap for him, including “several strong well-tested messages to drive home with these remaining voters.” This advice is teased out of how voters responded when asked about certain issues.

Those strong areas are, the poll says, affordability, clean water and public safety….

SA: Waters holds huge fundraising lead in City Council race | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

PDF: Honolulu CCD 4 Poll Memo-6.26.pdf

Read … The Sunshine Blog: PRP And The Power Of Incumbency Are Helping Tommy Waters - Honolulu Civil Beat

Empty homes tax burdens wrong team

SA: … Every proposal intended to address Hawaii’s housing shortage should be judged by one simple standard: Does it make it easier to provide long-term housing, or more difficult? Unfortunately, the proposed amendment to add an “empty homes tax” to the City Charter will make it more difficult….

Read … Column: Empty homes tax burdens wrong team | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative seeks recovery of costs incurred by wildfire mitigation plans, projects

KN: … Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative is seeking to establish an initial surcharge to recover about $9.4 million in operations and maintenance, capital costs and compliance efforts for its wildfire mitigation efforts….

Read … Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative seeks recovery of costs incurred by wildfire mitigation plans, projects : Kauai Now

Wailuku Greystar property named in statewide Sec 8 discrimination complaint

MN: … Housing Rights Initiative, a national housing watchdog group, filed the complaint with the Hawaiʻi Civil Rights Commission alleging five violations of state fair housing law at Greystar properties statewide, including Kaulana Mahina at 10 Piha Poepoe Way in Wailuku.

The Hawaiʻi filing is part of a broader multistate action alleging 114 violations across seven jurisdictions — Hawaiʻi, California, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia and Washington, D.C. — against Greystar, which the group describes as the nation’s largest apartment owner and manager.

The complaints stem from an undercover investigation in which Housing Rights Initiative testers posed as prospective tenants and called Greystar properties to ask whether they could pay rent using a Housing Choice Voucher, commonly known as Section 8.

According to the group, Greystar leasing agents repeatedly refused to accept vouchers, imposed unlawful conditions on voucher holders or declined to count voucher assistance toward income requirements.

At the Wailuku property, a tester called on Jan. 22 asking about a one-bedroom apartment listed at $2,246 a month. The Greystar agent confirmed availability but said the property did not accept Section 8 vouchers. When the tester asked again whether she could use her voucher, the agent said, “We do not accept it under this certain unit.” ….

NR: More Than 100 Civil Rights Violations Filed in Multi-State Enforcement Action Against the Largest Landlord in America - Cohen Milstein

Read … Wailuku Greystar property named in statewide housing voucher discrimination complaint : Maui Now

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