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Quickly recharging their fundraising operations after the special election for Congress in May, U.S. Rep. Charles Djou raised $176,980 in the last weeks of June while state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa brought in $107,224.
Djou, a Republican, had $379,046 in cash on hand at the end of June and had raised $1.6 million overall for his campaign in Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, urban Honolulu, according to new federal campaign finance reports. Hanabusa, the leading Democratic candidate, had $211,411 in cash and had raised $1.3 million in total.
"The people of Hawaii showed in the special election that they wanted change," Djou said in a statement. "Their outpouring of support is speaking in a clear voice that they are tired of government spending far too much taxpayer dollars on public programs that aren’t working. The concern that our national deficits and debt pose are real. That’s what I campaigned on, that’s what I won on and that is what I will continue focusing on in Congress."
The Hanabusa campaign declined to comment on fundraising. In a message to supporters earlier this week, Hanabusa said she would stand up for Hawaii values and criticized Djou for voting against an extension in unemployment insurance benefits.
"All of us must ensure that the values of not only our host culture, but others as well, survive and thrive," she said. "We must preserve the profound and important values of caring for others, of speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves and of taking care of our land and our oceans in perpetuity."
Djou, as an incumbent, now has more direct access to political action committees and national party officials to help with fundraising. He raised $97,000 from mostly conservative PACs during the last few weeks of June. Hanabusa collected $26,000 from PACs during the same reporting period.
U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, has raised $705,184 for her re-election campaign in the 2nd Congressional District, which covers parts of Central, Leeward and Windward Oahu and the neighbor islands. Hirono brought in $116,065 between April and the end of June and had $690,846 in cash on hand.
Ramsay Wharton, a former television reporter running in the Republican primary in the 2nd District, has raised $16,305. She had $6,850 in cash at the end of June.
John Willoughby, a commercial airline pilot and Navy veteran also running in the Republican primary, said he has raised about $13,000. His campaign finance report was not immediately available.
