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Honolulu Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard lent her campaign $30,000 on Friday, about a week after former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann loaned his campaign $150,000.
Polls show Gabbard and Hannemann are the two main candidates for the Democratic nomination to Hawaii’s 2nd Congressional District seat. The primary election is Saturday.
Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission show Gabbard lending her campaign $30,000 on Friday.
Gabbard, asked about the loan, said in a release, ”Hawaii has a chance to take a fresh approach and I am doing everything I can to make it happen — my loan, my time, my dedication is to give the people a real choice and an opportunity to try a fresh approach.”
Gabbard reported $972,075 in total contributions received as of July 22.
That’s slightly less than the $1,065,659 in total contributions received by the Hannemann campaign during the same reporting period.
Gabbard, however, has raised more than Hannemann in the two previous reporting periods, and has benefited from about $500,000 in advertising and mailers from three groups: the VoteVets.Org Action Fund, Women Vote! and Sierra Club Independent Action.
Hannemann cited the need to combat the special interest groups as the reason he felt it necessary to lend his campaign $150,000 on July 24.
Recent polls, including a Hawaii Poll late last month, show Gabbard surging, going from relative unknown earlier this year to a legitimate contender.
The district has about 65 percent of voters on the neighbor islands and about 35 percent in rural Oahu.
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