Incumbent Sharon Har faces a persistent foe in her Democratic primary race to again represent Kapolei and Makakilo, along with a political neophyte who just moved into the district.
Michael Golojuch, the 41-year-old chairman of the Democratic Party’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender caucus, has dropped the "Jr." from his name during his campaign to represent House District 42, where he grew up.
Golojuch is no stranger to Har, the 44-year-old vice chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee.
They’ve worked together on community issues but also squared off many times, Har said.
Last year, for instance, Golojuch filed complaints with the Democratic Party against Har and 10 other House and Senate Democrats who sponsored or co-sponsored a constitutional amendment supporting traditional marriage. Before dropping the complaints, Golojuch said Har and her colleagues violated the party’s platform in favor of equal rights.
"When she (Har) came into office, she was telling everybody she supported civil rights, a woman’s right to choice, she supported justice," Golojuch said. "When she got into office she did a 180. She and I do not have an amicable relationship. That’s an understatement."
Golojuch said Har is part of former House Speaker Calvin Say’s "posse."
"She spent more time at the Capitol talking about how to get back in power than making sure she’s getting us what we need," he said. "She’s more concerned with House politics than the needs of the community."
At the Capitol, Har said, Golojuch would follow her to the bathroom during same-sex marriage debates and hurl insults, prompting her to call the House sergeant-of-arms to have him removed.
"His mother will sit in the gallery and make a slashing motion across her neck," Har said. "They’re single-issue people and they’re bullies. They are a very, very vitriolic family. All they do is harass people and bully people who do not agree with them."
Political newcomer Nicole Ferguson, 27, moved into the district this year, she said, to be closer to UH-West Oahu, where she is a lecturer and teaches environmental science.
She filed her campaign papers on Maui and lists her mailing address as a post office box in Ewa Beach because no boxes were available in Kapolei or Makakilo, Ferguson said.
Ferguson was not a Democratic Party member in good standing six months before June’s filing deadline, but in May Oahu Democrats declared that she was eligible to run.
"I did not have a Democratic Party card," Ferguson said, "but they unanimously voted to confirm that I was a true Democrat."
She declined to get into the fight between Har and Golojuch but said she supports same-sex marriage, which is now legal.
"I support the current law in the state of Hawaii," Ferguson said. "They went through the legislative process. Most of the people I’ve talked to are ready to move on. It’s not an issue at the forefront of my campaign."
Instead, Ferguson said she wants to focus on "workers’ rights," such as not taxing pensions, and, especially, environmental issues such as water conservation and increasing opportunities for residents to get solar technology to reduce their energy bills.
"We live on an island," Ferguson said. "How do make sure we live here in a way that’s sustainable? What we’re seeing more and more is that sustainability has moved from a buzzword to something that a much broader segment of the community is looking at."
In the Republican primary, Suk Moses, 55, is running unopposed and will face the Democratic winner in the general election.
She’s the wife of former state Rep. Mark Moses, the Republican Har defeated when Har won the swing district in 2006.
"When my husband was in office, there was a lot of infrastructure being put in," Moses said. "Our district is still growing but I don’t see anything happening. We need more schools, at least one more middle school and one more high school."
Even with Honolulu’s rail project, "traffic is going to be more congested because of all the people moving out here," Moses said.
So she is proposing double-decking the H-1 freeway to ease traffic.
In Moses’ idea a private company would build the second deck and implement Hawaii’s first toll road to pay for its costs.
"We cannot do the same thing over and over," Moses said. "We need to think out of the box, and we’ve got to figure out a way to help the people of Hawaii to get a better life. I’ve been walking the district. They say they’ll rather pay than sit on a not-moving freeway."
Capital for other projects for Kapolei and Makakilo can be found because "there’s lot of wasted money in government," Moses said. "Government is too big. We’ll have money — if we cut the government — to do the infrastructure."
While Ferguson said the issue of same-sex marriage in Hawaii has been settled, Har said the House 42 Democratic primary will be a referendum on the issue because of the opposite sides represented by her and Golojuch.
"My two opponents are claiming that it’s not an issue," Har said. "That just goes to show that they do not know this district very well. Same-sex marriage is definitely going to be an issue for this district."
Golojuch said, "Will I be supporting equal rights? Of course. But the priorities for my district are the infrastructure that we need. My community’s not getting the attention it deserves, and it deserves someone who will do the work and be accessible."
Har contends that she is the best candidate to help fulfill "the dream of the Second City."
As a former member of the House Finance Committee, Har said she fought for money for Kapolei Elementary School and secured the initial funding for UH-West Oahu. Kapolei’s second elementary school is now scheduled to open in a year.
She also plans to reintroduce legislation to build a private film studio next to UH-West Oahu that would work with UH students.
"The film industry does scenery shots here but does its post-production on the mainland," she said. A new studio "could generate revenue for West Oahu and create jobs and bring in revenue from post production work."
"I believed in this concept of a Second City, but now we’re being treated like second-class citizens," Har said. "Solar and water are not issues in this district. The people in the Second City are upset because they bought into the idea of a Second City, but government failed to build the infrastructure that we needed."
