HAWAII REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOWCASES QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF CANDIDATES

HONOLULU— The Hawaii Republican Party highlighted several candidates today at the Office of Elections, promising to fill seats for Hawaii State Legislature with quality Republican candidates.  Candidates in attendance included:

Adrienne King              Candidate for Lt. Governor

Rep. Lynn Finnegan     Candidate for Lt. Governor

John Willoughby           Candidate for U.S. House, District 2

Dr. Judy Franklin          Candidate for State Senate 13

Joe Pandolfe                Candidate for State Senate 25

David Chang                 Candidate for State House 28

Garner Shimizu             Candidate for State House 31

Aaron Johanson            Candidate for State House 32

Reed Shiraki                 Candidate for State House 36

Beth Fukumoto             Candidate for State House 37

Marissa Capeluto           Candidate for State House 40

Richard Fale                  Candidate for State House 47

Jeremy Low                  Candidate for City Council District 4

“We made a pledge to fill every open seat this year and we are very close to it with just about seven days left before the filing deadline,” said Dylan Nonaka, Executive Director of the Hawaii Republican Party.  “We have a lot of people working on recruiting quality candidates and are making every effort to challenge every race.  This is going to be an exciting year for Republicans in Hawaii.”

Those efforts include aggressive candidate recruitment through collaborative campaigns (see “Hawaii Republicans Launch ‘You Like Run?’ Campaign”), radio ads, You Tube videos and Facebook ads. 

With more than a week left for candidates to pull and file papers, there are only eight seats without a Republican candidate.  In 2008, 29 seats in the State Legislature went unchallenged by Republicans in Hawaii. 

Since then, Hawaii Republicans elected a new Chairman, adopted a values-based, single page Party platform and won a U.S. Congressional seat.  The political landscape is also ripe for change.

“For 50 years, Hawaii politics has been defined by Democrats, union bosses and political corruption,” said Chairman Jonah Ka’auwai.  “People of Hawaii want relief in their pocketbooks.  They want a responsive and transparent legislature.  They want growth and opportunity for their families and they want a quality education system. 

Ka’auwai continued, “With the outstanding candidates here today and the dozens of others who have and will be filing their papers, Hawaii Republicans are offering the voters a choice this election cycle.”

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