Reactions to the announcement yesterday that former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann has formed a "Hawaii Independent Party" which has now been certified for the ballot:
Hannemann: FaceBook, Twitter, Website
* * * * *
For Supporting Mufi: Up to 1/3 of Democrats Could be Expelled
CB: New Hawaii Political Party, Familiar Face Possibly as Candidate
Progressive Democrat activist Bart Dame February 21, 2014:
This is going to create complications for the Democratic Party, as our rules prohibit members from also being members, or candidates, of competing parties. Nor are they allowed to "actively support" candidates of another party. We have a silly notion, if you play for another team, you are not allowed to huddle with us as we develop strategy.
Perhaps a third of the delegates to the 2010 Democratic state convention were Mufi supporters at that time. How many of them will support Mufi's campaign now that he is no longer a Democrat, but running as a HIPster? While they are free to vote however they want, in the privacy of the polling booth, they cannot sign-wave, appear in ads, give campaign contributions to candidates of other parties, without facing sanctions….
This is going to be messy.
* * * * *
Milner: With Republicans United Behind Aiona, Mufi Will Hurt Abercrombie Most
KITV: Just before the 4:30 p.m. deadline Thursday, people with the Hawaii Independent Party walked into the elections office to certify as a new political party. They need 706 registered voters' signatures. Then later that night, election officials confirmed the new party met that threshold....
Political analyst Neil Milner shared some input on Hannemann as a candidate.
"I don't think Mufi Hannemann has that much of a chance."
Milner says having no party would hurt him.
"People who call themselves Independents tend to vote disproportionately either for one party or another, so he has a problem with the Independents. He has a problem with the Democrats because his last two races have shown that he's not very popular with the Democrats," said Milner. "With a formidable Republican in the race, I don't know where he will find sufficient votes to pull this off."
So far, Gov. Neil Abercrombie and State Senator David Ige - both Democrats - are the only declared candidates in the race.
Former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona is likely to run as a Republican. So if Hannemann gets in, who does he hurt?
"He would probably hurt the Democratic candidate more because Republicans are going to stay pretty solidly behind Aiona and Mufi still has a base in there – a number of people he could draw away," said Milner.
Read ... Nobody Wants Mufi?
Chang: Hannemann May Split Vote
SA: David Chang, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, fears Hannemann would split the moderate-to-conservative vote with Aiona and hand re-election to the liberal Abercrombie by a plurality.
Chang said Hannemann explored a potential Republican run for governor but did not want to face Aiona in a GOP primary.
"Does he really believe he can win? Is he doing this for himself or for the people of Hawaii?" Chang asked. "That's, ultimately, what I'm questioning at this point."
A new Hawaii Poll this week by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now showed that 39 percent would consider voting for Hannemann as an independent.
The poll also showed Abercrombie with a single-digit lead over Ige in the Democratic primary and trailing Aiona in a hypothetical general election matchup.
Citing the surprising poll results, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball, from the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, on Thursday moved the Hawaii's governor's race rating to "leans Democratic" from "likely Democratic."
read ... Hannemann Helps Abercrombie
Maui News: "Clearly the big loser in a three-way race is Aiona."
Ige, Aiona React to Formation of Mufi Party
HNN: "It doesn't change our strategy at all. we're focused," Ige said of his campaign. "I'm running as a Democrat. We're focused on the Democratic primary. We have a game plan and we have a strategy to be successful."
"We believe that Gov. Abercrombie's achievements will win the support of voters in both the primary and general elections," said Bill Kaneko, Abercrombie's campaign manager.
Former Lt. Governor and likely Republican candidate Duke Aiona said voters should not confuse Hannemann's politics with his.
"I think he's more similar to Gov.Abercrombie in regards to leadership style. They're both flamboyant. They're both very outspoken. Their leadership style is more top-down than my leadership style," Aiona said.
But Moore believes Aiona has the most to lose with Hannemann in the race.
"It's unlikely that Abercrombie's hardcore supporters would defect to support Hannemann. But it is more likely that people who might be inclined to vote for the Republican, if Aiona does decide to run, would also see him as a good candidate," he said.
In 1994 Frank Fasi ran for governor as an independent. He finished second to Ben Cayetano. Hannemann lost his last two races running as a Democrat.
read ... Independent Party
Failed Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares to be Mufi's Lt Governor Candidate?
KHON: What usually takes at least two weeks to certify signatures took less than 4 hours to place the party on this year’s ballot.
The Hawaii Independent Party is led by co-chair Charmaine Tavares, the former Mayor of Maui, and Maui realtor Michelle del Rosario....
“We have a strategy to win the Democratic Primary, and that is our primary focus,” said State Senator David Ige.
“So no comment then on Mufi himself”? asked KHON 2 News.
“We’re confident that we will win the primary and move on to the general.”
Former Lieutenant Governor James “Duke” Aiona said, “Well, I’m not surprised. Mufi has run in several races for for different offices, so this doesn’t come as a surprise.
Aiona added, “It’s going to be a dog fight, no question about it.”
The chairman for the campaign committee for the re-election of Governor Abercrombie released a statement which said, in part, that we believe that Governor. Abercrombie’s achievements will win the support of voters in both the primary and general elections.
If Hannemann does declare for Governor as an independent, Democratic Party Chairman Dante Carpenter told KHON 2 News that a complaint must be filed first, before the party can act to determine the future of Hannemann’s membership with the Democratic Party.
Related: Maui News: Arakawa Deserves Credit for Business-friendly Atmosphere
read ... Dems: Throw him out