Ige raises more than $800,000 for re-election bid

Gov. David Ige garnered more than $800,000 in campaign donations for his re-election bid through the end of the year — short of the $1 million he planned to raise in that time frame, but more than his Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.

Ige’s campaign raked in $810,903 in contributions for the reporting period covering July 1 to Dec. 31, according to a report filed today with the state Campaign Spending Commission. The donations add to more than $246,000 the campaign reported in cash on hand at the start of the period.

A total of 36 donors contributed the maximum $6,000 allowed for the election cycle, including 13 employees from the construction and engineering firm Bowers & Kubota Consulting. Other donors giving the maximum include attorneys Jeffrey Ono, Dean Yamamoto and Bert T. Kobayashi Jr.; Oceanit founder Patrick Sullivan; Matson Navigation Co. and Alexander & Baldwin HiPAC.

Donors also included some of Ige’s cabinet members and department heads, including Linda Chu Takayama, Tax Department interim director; Suzanne Case, director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources; Catherine Awakuni, director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Audrey Hidano, deputy comptroller; Keith Kawaoka, Health Department deputy director; Craig Hirai, director of the Hawaii Housing and Finance Development Corp.; and Public Utilities Commission Chairman Randy Iwase.

Meanwhile, Hanabusa, who formally launched her campaign for governor this month, raised $731,945 in contributions for the reporting period. Donations didn’t start flowing into Hanabusa’s war chest until September, when she announced she was considering a run for governor.