HAWAII REPUBLICAN PARTY ENDORSES SHIRLENE DELA CRUZ OSTROV FOR CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 1 SPECIAL ELECTION

News Release from Hawaii Republican Party

HONOLULU (August 26, 2016) - Chair Fritz Rohlfing released the following statement:

"The Hawaii Republican Party endorses Shirlene Dela Cruz Ostrov in the upcoming special election for Congressional District 1 in the U.S. House of Representatives, which will be held on November 8 along with the general election.

The special election has no primary election to winnow down the candidate field leading up to the general election. Instead, it is a pure "winner take all" election. Therefore, as in the 2010 special election that elected Republican Charles Djou to fill the vacancy created by then-Congressman Neil Abercrombie's resignation to run for governor, the GOP is throwing all of its support behind a single candidate in the field.

Ostrov, a retired Air Force colonel with more than 23 years of distinguished active duty military service, is now a small business owner for a logistics consulting company. Among her areas of responsibility in the Air Force was informing legislators about the consequences of their proposals as the interagency and legislative liaison for the United States Transportation Command, one of the nine unified commands of the Department of Defense. She was also part of the State Department’s Special Envoy to Sudan.

Other endorsements to date include former Congresswoman Pat Saiki, the only Republican woman from Hawaii to serve in the U.S. House, who described Colonel Ostrov as 'dynamic' and 'refreshingly new to our political scene', and the National Defense Political Action Committee, who praised Colonel Ostrov as 'exactly the kind of woman that we must elect to the U.S. Congress'.

With currently 59 more Republicans than Democrats in the U.S. House, Saiki said that Colonel Ostrov 'would have a seat at the table as part of the majority caucus.'

Ostrov’s father is an immigrant from the Philippines and her mother was born in Hawaii, as was Shirlene. She met her husband Mark Ostrov while going through the ROTC program together. They live in Mililani with their twin daughters.

Colonel Ostrov's unquestioned integrity, spirit of service, aloha for all, and concern for Hawaii's people without make her the best choice to represent us in the United States Congress."

Learn more about Shirlene Ostrov at www.shirleneostrov.com.

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