Hee characterizes radio ad as a ‘smear’ attempt

State Sen. Clayton Hee, the top challenger to Lt. Gov. Shan Tsu­tsui in the Demo­cratic primary campaign for lieutenant governor, called a third-party ad an 11th-hour "smear" by an "attack dog" and suggested that there may have been coordination at some level between camps.

Both Tsutsui and the Hawaii Government Employees Association, which took out the ad against Hee through its political action committee, said there was no coordination, which would be illegal.

The 30-second radio spot by HGEA, the state’s largest public-sector employee union, which has endorsed Tsu­tsui, calls a radio ad by Hee misleading for "implying that (Hee) is supported by the HGEA retirees unit. The problem is, it’s not true," the ad says.

"Shame on you, Clayton Hee," the ad chides. "It’s certainly not the kind of integrity we’d expect from a lieutenant governor candidate."

Hee’s ads began airing last week. They feature Madeline Neely, identifying herself as a member of the HGEA retirees unit, speaking of how in 2011 the unit "honored Clayton Hee with a resolution for working for all of Hawaii’s retirees," because of his efforts, along with those of Sen. David Ige, in defeating Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s proposed pension tax.

Abercrombie introduced the pension tax as part of a package of proposals aimed at closing a sizable budget deficit in 2011. The Legislature defeated the proposal. Ige, Hee and others have seized on the pension tax as a campaign issue.

Hee used a framed copy of the resolution at a public forum to indicate his support from retirees. He said his ad simply states the retirees’ unit honored him, adding that Neely did not say Hee was endorsed by the union, nor did the ad imply such an endorsement.

"There’s no denying the fact that the resolution speaks for itself," he said.

Hee said he would like the HGEA ad to be pulled, but he does not expect an apology.

Hee said he believes Tsu­tsui has internal research showing a close race and has "elicited the support of the Hawaii Government Employees Association leadership to launch a smear that’s untrue."

Tsutsui said there was no coordination.

"Absolutely not true," Tsu­tsui said in a telephone interview.

Randy Perreira, HGEA executive director, also said that there was no coordination. Under the law, so-called third-party super PACs are allowed to spend an unlimited amount to advocate election or defeat "of a clearly identified candidate" so long as there are no direct candidate contributions and no coordination.

Perreira said the union previously notified Hee, by letter and in person, that his radio ad and Neely’s identification infringed on their union’s name, which is a protected trademark.

"HGEA tried in a polite way to get Mr. Hee to understand that it is unlawful for him to use our name," Perreira said.

Madeline Neely, Perreira said, "has no authority or inherited right, as she tried to claim in an email to us, to be able to speak on behalf of the organization.

"As a result, we then were calling him on it because his ads are deceptive. It implies some level of support from our organization in this particular race."

Perreira called Hee a "bully."

"Our organization, nor I — neither are going to be bullied," he said. "To us it’s plain and simple: He had no authority to, in any way shape or form, refer directly to our organization."

Hee called the reference to trademark infringement a "scare tactic" based on HGEA not making mention of it in the new ad.

Perreira countered that while the retirees unit may have at one time honored Hee with a resolution, that does not give him license to use it the way he did.

"Did our retirees honor him with a resolution? Yes, for his service on a particular issue when he served as a state senator," Perreira said. "It should not be, then, allowed to imply overall support as he chooses to run for some other office."