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Former Honolulu City Councilwoman Tulsi Gabbard made three loans to her campaign for Congress totaling $98,000 in the days leading up to the August primary.
Gabbard won a blowout victory over former Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann in the Democratic primary in the 2nd Congressional District, but the loans show that she was concerned in the final days.
"The Star-Advertiser poll had us down 10 points two weeks out, and we also were concerned Mufi Hannemann was going to dump a lot of cash into advertising in the final days," said Jim McCoy, a Gabbard campaign spokesman. "So Tulsi wanted to make sure that she would finish strong. And she did."
Hannemann had loaned his campaign $150,000 in July, which he said was to keep pace with the independent spending by interest groups that were supporting Gabbard.
Gabbard, who faces homeless handyman Kawika Crowley, a Republican, in the November election, raised more than $513,400 for her campaign from late July through September, including the loans. She has raised more than $1.5 million overall, according to federal campaign finance reports.