HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle today named George Burnett, a Civil Defense telecommunications officer with the state Department of Defense, as State Manager of the Year, and Lynne Kazama, a social worker with the Department of Human Services, as State Employee of the Year.  The Governor also named the “Quarantine First Responders” with the University of Hawai‘i as the State Team of the Year.

WaPo: Below you'll find our rankings of the 50 House races most likely to switch parties in the fall....

John Willoughby is the GOP candidate for CD2 vs Mazie Hirono and Scott Henderson is the GOP candidate for State House Dist 7 vs Cindy Evans. 

Washington- After months of rubber-stamping reckless spending and job-killing legislation, reality finally caught up with Hawaii Democrat Colleen Hanabusa and her Washington friends. The final jobs report before Election Day showed another month of high unemployment at 9.6 percent, marking it almost a year and a half since unemployment has been under nine percent, signaling major problems for any Democrat on the ballot in November.

HONLULU—The Hawaii Republican Party stopped by Colleen Hanabusa’s headquarters this afternoon with moving boxes fresh off her statement and our video released yesterday indicating she would be moving into Hawaii’s First Congressional District.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona today issued the following statement in response to his opponent's proposal for the next Lieutenant Governor to control the process for obtaining federal funds. 

Charles Djou's stay on Capitol Hill was supposed to be brief....

...police reported the car was registered to my opponent, Rep. Jessica Wooley, and her husband. When police called her, she did not deny her car was there and said it must have been a volunteer, but that she didn't know who it was.  She also claimed to have only taken the signs down and left them in front of the house, but as we reported, the signs were stolen and thrown into her van.  Someone mysteriously returned signs at the place they were stolen with a note saying the property caretakers didn't want the signs up.  But these were not the same signs stolen from the property and we confirmed with the property caretakers that they indeed supported our campaign and wanted a sign in their home.

“Congressman Djou understands the importance of small business in restoring the nation’s economy,” she said, noting his willingness to fight growing federal regulations and stand firm against anti-business measures such as big labor’s “card check” legislation that would unfairly deny small businesses and their workers the right to secret ballot elections when faced with union-organizing campaigns."

"Jobs and the economy are unquestionably the two most important issues in the elections this November," said Ed Pinto, Chairman and CEO of Trust in Small Business PAC. 

"Small business is the key to jump starting the economy and creating new jobs America so desperately needs," Pinto continued. "Congressman Djou understands this. Djou stands up for small business."

Subsets of the 14-member Political Action Committee met with candidates to identify those who were friendly to businesses. To receive the Chamber's endorsement as a "business friendly" candidate, each candidate had to meet a minimum score equating to 60 percent of the total points possible.

Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan's opponents did not meet the minimum score to qualify for an endorsement.

"Our opponent continues to speak in platitudes, including an over-reliance on federal funding as the solution to Hawai‘i's economic issues.

"Duke Aiona addressed balance, integrity and fiscal responsibility in state government, while creating job opportunities, reducing the financial burden on our working families and small businesses and improving the quality of public education."

Naturally she withheld this magnificent announcement until encountering an amateur videographer on a Washington, DC street corner. 

Honolulu, HI — Congressman Charles K. Djou (HI-01) has selected local attorney Irene Anzai as a 2010 Angel in Adoption^TM  for her support of adopted children and their families. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which organizes the Angels in Adoption^™ program, will honor Anzai and other Angels at an awards ceremony and gala event on October 6, 2010 in Washington, DC. Congressman Djou will present the actual award to Anzai at a local ceremony on October 15....

Our internal polls now show us with a narrow lead, and a recent poll by a left wing blog shows our opponent with a razor thin lead.  In either case, our race is very close.

"Nothing in our opponents' latest plan would help bring about immediate economic recovery or create private sector jobs in 2011," said Duke Aiona. "Our opponents are finally admitting that there needs to be a down payment for their program, except that it now comes from "external" funds - which essentially means federal funds. If they fail to obtain these external funds, there will be no down payment and therefore no delivery on their promises."

"The Hawai‘i Restaurant Association is excited to be supporting Duke Aiona for Governor," said Chris Colgate, chairman of the Hawai‘i Restaurant Association Board of Directors. "Our industry believes he has always supported many of our positions and is committed to keeping down the high cost of doing business in Hawai‘i."

The leftist Daily KOS has released results of a survey conducted by Public Policy Polling October 2 and 3 among likely voters in Hawaii.  The poll shows Republican Gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov Duke Aiona statistically tied with Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Neil Abercrombie. 

Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Neil Abercrombie has released his “Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.”  Here are some of the best lines....

  Congressman Djou, his wife Stacey, Stephan Edwards and his brother Ryan of Systemcenter

Hawaii Right to Life, in partnership with Pearson Foundation of Hawaii, invites you to a special pro-life presentation and charity benefit featuring the Reverend Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro Carámbula, Chaplain of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.

While in D.C. as Congressman, Neil Abercrombie voted not once, not twice but three times in favor of taxpayer-funded bailouts for Wall Street financial institutions, auto companies and fiscally irresponsible state governments....

“This election is going to be won at the grassroots level, and our coalition leaders are on the ground in communities throughout the state,” said Lynn Finnegan. “We're going after every vote on every island and these coalitions help us connect with our citizens on the issues they care about most.”

“Hawai‘i's working families and small businesses already suffer from one of the highest overall tax rates in the nation,” said Lynn Finnegan. “Duke and I oppose tax increases, and we'll encourage a business-friendly environment.”

"We want to focus this campaign on the critical issues facing our working families and small businesses, and nothing is more critical right now than creating job opportunities," said Duke Aiona. "There's nothing in our opponents' plan that will create private sector jobs immediately, which will be a top priority for an Aiona-Finnegan Administration."

... Caldwell today signed into law Bill 34, which amends the City Fire Code to prohibit the possession, sale and use of consumer fireworks ....

Hawaii Christian Coalition candidate comparisons for Hawaii Legislative races.

"National Democrats have already blown over $530,000 in this race in a desperate attempt to mislead Hawaii voters and distract them from examining Colleen Hanabusa's record. Every dollar spent has been to distort Congressman Djou's record while no dollar was spent promoting anything positive about their "second favorite" candidate."

Washington- Democrat Congressman Chet Edwards (D-TX) recently admitted that his vote for his party’s failed trillion-dollar stimulus may cost him an election. His startling admission should have Democrat candidates like Colleen Hanabusa – who also supported the legislation – worried that they too will share the same fate.

"My comments about flu vaccine have been taken out of context and misconstrued by members of the media as well as supporters of my opponent's campaign.

“I've talked with many health care professionals and reviewed the benefits and risks of flu vaccinations. I just got my flu shot."

With the Gubernatorial race coming down to the wire, the Washington Post has just published a six page interview with Senator Dan Inouye in which he says absolutely nothing about Neil Abercrombie’s campaign.  Abercrombie beat Inouye’s favored candidate Mufi Hannemann in the September 18th Democratic Primary.  Is Inouye repeating the same strategy which places personal loyalty above party loyalty and was so helpful to the election of Republican Charles Djou in the May Special Election?

He will pursue public-private partnerships to reconstruct, upgrade and manage public housing. An Aiona-Finnegan Administration will also extend to public housing residents the successful Homeownership Assistance Program launched by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, which helps renters become successful homeowners.

As thousands of voters in Hawaii's First Congressional District are readying themselves to cast votes in the General Election, one of the main candidates will be unable to cast a vote for herself. Voters should ask, why is Colleen Hanabusa running for a Congressional seat that represents an area she doesn't live in?

Last week President Barack Obama's most recently minted czar, Special Advisor to the President for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Elizabeth Warren, spoke to 400 bankers at the swanky Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington, DC. Her message, according to The Washington Post: "Behave, play nice, and we'll get along just fine." Specifically, Warren promised to take a more "principles-based approach" to regulation, rather than clearly articulating "thou shalt not" rules that banks could rely on.

The deadline to register to vote in the General Election is Monday, October 4. 

Your voter registration application must be received by the City or County Clerk where you reside no later than 4:30 pm on Monday, Oct. 4.

Asked if he would endorse any gubernatorial candidate now that Hannemann is out of the race, Carvalho said, “As for further endorsements, I’m not prepared to do so at this time but may at a later date.”

[Colleen Hanabusa]  "I can tell you right now, in government I don't think there's waste, per se.”

[Charles Djou] "You know that's not true. Our government is wasting billions of dollars. We may be the first generation in American history to leave the next worse off.

HONOLULU - Duke Aiona and Lynn Finnegan today launched the second in a series of videos they are sharing online to discuss real solutions for all of Hawai‘i. The second spot, "Fuel," focuses on small businesses, which fuel Hawai‘i's economy.

The 30-second web video consists of time-lapse driving sequences, seeing the islands through Duke Aiona's perspective as we hear his thoughts.

 Warning.  This video contains adult material.

OHA’s entire “30 year battle” has been to place the worst elements of a natural-resource dependent economy under the control of a tribal government and mix in the kind of dependency-creating social programs which have done so much damage in America’s inner cities. The common factor: each of these elements of OHA’s scheme have proven to entrench corrupt political officials in power.

“Today marks the start of a new Federal fiscal year.  Congress just closed one of the most fiscally irresponsible sessions in modern American history, spending an inordinate amount of money, running an unprecedented budget deficit—without turning the economy around."

Abercrombie attempted to drive up the cost of an important work project on Guam that is expected to create 15,000 jobs by forcing them to pay exorbitant wages, making the project unaffordable.  Even Senator Inouye came out against Abercrombie’s proposal saying it would “shut local businesses” out of work.

Unwise financial planning, flawed incentives, and failed investments have left the pension fund far short of the resources it will need for long term operation. The Hawaii ERS is woefully underfunded by any standard.  The state government is obligated to pay its employees the benefits it has promised. But a report by the National Bureau of Economic Research predicts that Hawaii’s pension system will run out of funds in 2020....

No surprise that since 1991 Abercrombie has voted with the Democratic Party 92 percent of the time, and in the last Congress 98.5 percent.... But which legislation did he vote “Nay” on when his own Democratic Party (and Republicans) voted “Yea”?

...former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Christopher Coates, testified before the Commission. He not only confirmed that Fernandes ordered DOJ attorneys only to enforce "traditional types of [voter intimidation] cases that would provide political equality for racial and minority language voters" but also informed DOJ attorneys that it was the policy of the Obama administration not to enforce anti-voter fraud laws since Obama "was not interested in that type of issue, but instead interested in issues that pertained to voter access."