Police group endorses Hannemann

The State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers on Thursday endorsed former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann for governor, a show of confidence in Hannemann’s independent campaign.

The police officers union, which has 3,100 members statewide, had backed Hannemann when he ran unsuccessfully for governor as a Democrat in 2010 and for Congress in 2012.

But the endorsement this year could be more politically useful because Hannemann has taken the unusual tack of running under the newly created Hawaii Independent Party. The former mayor needs to demonstrate that he and Les Chang, the Independent candidate for lieutenant governor, are viable against candidates from the major political parties.

"We’re not about Democrats, Republican or Independent; it is about the candidate’s character," Tenari Maafala, the union’s president, said at a news conference at SHOPO’s headquarters in Kalihi.

Hannemann acknowledged that questions remain about whether independent candidates can compete.

"These endorsements validate a couple of things that we’ve been saying all along," he said. "Just because I’m a member of a new party, I don’t leave these relationships behind.

"Organizations or individuals that have supported me in the past as a Democrat, I really believe they will ultimately support us in this new endeavor. And it will also go without saying with friends that I’ve had on the Republican side."

Maafala said the union also met with state Sen. David Ige, who is challenging Gov. Neil Abercrombie in the Democratic primary, and former Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona, the leading Republican candidate for governor, who had sought endorsements. The union president said Abercrombie did not approach the union about an endorsement.

"We don’t go knocking on politician’s doors," Maafala said. "If they want our endorsement, we’re here. We’ve always had an open-door policy. We don’t discriminate against anybody. If you want our endorsement, we’re here. You know where to find us."

The Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 293 also endorsed Hannemann on Thursday. The union represents about 1,000 workers.

"I think, as an independent candidate, it’s more of a variable in terms of perception as opposed to running as the Democratic candidate," John Hart, a Hawaii Pacific University communication professor, said of the endorsements. "As a candidate who has lost to his opponent before," he said of Hannemann’s primary loss to Abercrombie four years ago, "you have to show viability."

But Hart said the most important frame of Hannemann’s campaign is whether he has the potential to take more votes from the Democratic candidate or from Aiona in the November general election. Hart says the former mayor will likely draw from what he called the "anti-Neil vote" — provided the governor wins the primary — and weaken Aiona’s chances.

Several other political analysts initially agreed that Hannemann would undermine Aiona. But some, citing public and private polls, now say Hannemann might instead split the Democratic vote and give Aiona a chance.