Hawaii Democrats have assigned a team to investigate and propose a possible punishment for activist Chelsea Lyons Kent, who raised her middle-finger on television at the Democratic National Convention. However, the party’s handling of that and other complaints has prompted one member of the party’s Oahu County Committee to resign.
Kent triggered an uproar within the local Democratic Party when she made the crude gesture on national television on July 26 as the Hawaii delegation announced votes in favor of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Kent was a supporter of Clinton’s primary opponent, Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Kent was standing with a cluster of senior Hawaii political leaders, including U.S. Sens. Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono and former Hawaii Gov. John Waihee, at the Philadelphia convention when she grinned widely and flashed her middle finger. She was kicked out of the Hawaii delegation after she refused to apologize for the gesture.
The Democrats’ Hawaiian Affairs Caucus later filed a complaint against Kent that seeks to eject her from the party for her behavior. Kent was traveling and unavailable for comment, but has indicated her gesture grew out of frustration with the Democratic National Committee, which had been accused of trying to undermine Sanders’ presidential bid.
Kent could also face sanctions in connection with a second, separate complaint filed because she allegedly violated party rules after the convention by urging voters to support Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein. Kent argued in an online video that people should vote for candidates other than Democrats and Republicans to “shake up the foundation of this two-party system, which is ridiculous.”
Oahu County Committee Chairwoman Reena Rabago confirmed the Oahu committee voted on Sept. 10
to assign a five-member team to investigate both complaints against Kent, and said the team will return with recommendations on what to do next.
Richard Halverson, who was vice chairman of the Oahu County Committee, resigned from that post after the Sept. 10 meeting. In his resignation letter, Halverson expressed frustration that “party membership has become less focused on helping Democrats beat Republicans, and I feel too focused on rules, discipline and policing member behavior.”
“The OCC style has become less transparent, more dictatorial, and for me, more stressful,” Halverson wrote in his letter of resignation. “I no longer feel my time is well spent participating, and for this reason I am resigning.”
Halverson in an interview raised concern that the case against Kent is being handled differently than similar complaints against other party members.
The Oahu committee has received a separate complaint filed against former Democratic Gov. Ben Cayetano, Honolulu City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and former Hawaii Democratic Party Chairman Walter Heen for endorsing Republican Charles Djou in the nonpartisan Honolulu mayor’s race.
Still another complaint was filed against Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell for endorsing Republican Kymberly Pine in the nonpartisan Honolulu City Council race.
Halverson said the Oahu committee advanced the complaints against Kent last weekend, but took no action on the complaints against Kobayashi, Cayetano, Heen or Caldwell.
Since three of the complaints allege rule violations by party members who endorsed non-Democrats, some Oahu committee members wanted those complaints investigated by the same team. That way, any disciplinary recommendations would be consistent, Halverson said.
“We would like all of these weighed under one investigation, and now that just can’t happen,” he said. The concern is that inconsistent decisions could further divide factions within the party, “and in the long term, this isn’t going to solve anything,” Halverson said.
Rabago confirmed the cases against Kobayashi, Cayetano, Heen and Caldwell have not yet been referred for investigation “because they’re still going through the process.”
“Whenever there’s a complaint, there’s a process that has to be followed, and all of the complaints are in the early stages, but they’re all moving forward,” Rabago said.
She declined to discuss the cases further, noting that the Democratic Party is a private organization, and not a public government agency.
Rabago also declined to comment on whether other Oahu committee members have expressed unhappiness with the handling of the complaints. “It’s party business, and it has to go through a process, and the party is the party. We’re talking about people’s membership, and that’s not … it’s so private that I wouldn’t want to comment on anything,” she said.
