Democratic Party of Hawaii about to go down new path

This spring, Hawaii’s Democrats will do what they do best: evolve.

The party meets in convention May 24 and 25 at the Sheraton Waikiki. There it is expected the Democrats will pick a new party chairman.

Dante Carpenter, the current Democratic leader, won’t come out and say it, but he is strongly hinting that now is the time to step aside.

"I’m probably not going to run. There are a bunch of guys lining up for it. I don’t have trouble transferring it to one of the many talented Democrats," Carpenter, who took up the post in 2010, said.

"I am bordering on making the decision. I haven’t totally made up my mind," he added.

Carpenter has had his hand in local politics as a member of the Hawaii County Council, a state senator, Hawaii island mayor and a trustee of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

In the Senate in the 1980s, Carpenter ran with that remarkably successful group of dissident Democrats who opposed Senate President Richard Wong. Ben Cayetano became governor, Charles Toguchi was superintendent of Education, Neil Abercrombie went to Congress and then Washington Place and Carpenter became Hawaii island mayor.

Unfortunately for Carpenter, he was upended by Bernard Akana, who had never held elected office.

So far, there is one definite candidate looking to take Carpenter’s place: Tony Gill, an attorney, three-time chairman of the Oahu Democratic Party and son of Tom Gill, former congressman, lieutenant governor and patriarch of the liberal wing of the local Democratic Party.

Gill has led the push to change Hawaii’s primary elections so that only registered members of a political party can vote in that party’s primary election.

Gill and the Democrats filed a federal lawsuit claiming Hawaii’s open primary system is an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment right to free association. The suit was unsuccessful and Gill is working on an appeal.

Meanwhile he is running for party chairman.

The Democratic Party is a membership organization," Gill said in an interview.

"It is critically important that the Democratic Party maintain the web of relationships that make Hawaii move."

Gill says that means working with "people who believe in the creation of a middle class, the maintenance of the environment and civil rights."

Not yet running, but stepping up to the door of the rumor mill is Jesse Souki, the newly named deputy director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Souki’s DNA has its own political genetic makeup. His cousin is veteran Speaker of the House, Rep. Joe Souki. The younger Souki also is the former state planning director, a former Maui and Honolulu deputy corporation counsel and aide to former U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Akaka.

If running the party appears to be a natural progression for Souki, the Democrat is not completely cooperating. Souki says he is thinking about running but is not ready to make a decision.

"People have come up to me — it is out there," Souki said yesterday.

"I haven’t thought past the concept stage. It is an idea, probably less than a ‘maybe,’" he said.

With his ties to the Abercrombie administration, Souki would appear to be just what the embattled governor needs to keep peace within the party.

In comparison, Gill would be a step in the progressive direction for the party, with some measure of uncertainty as to the extent of his ability to lead the party where it wants to go.

Either way, Hawaii’s Democrats will change.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.