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Gov. David Ige raked in more than $800,000 in campaign donations for his re-election bid in the last half of 2017 — short of
the $1 million he set out to raise in that time frame, but slightly more than his Democratic opponent U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa.
Ige’s campaign collected $810,903 in contributions
for the reporting period
covering July 1 to Dec. 31, according to a report filed Wednesday with the state Campaign Spending Commission. Adding to $246,000 the campaign reported in cash on hand at the start of the period, Ige has approximately $942,000 in his
war chest.
“Our fundraising efforts within this short period of time are indicative of voters who support my administration’s accomplishments
and want to share in our continued success,” Ige
said in a statement.
A total of 38 donors contributed the maximum $6,000 allowed for the election cycle. That included
13 employees from the construction and engineering firm Bowers &Kubota Consulting, including President Brian Bowers and Vice President Dexter Kubota. Ige, an electrical engineer by trade, attracted a number of donations from engineers and contractors.
Other donors who gave the maximum amount were attorneys Jeffrey Ono, Dean Yamamoto and Bert T.
Kobayashi Jr.; Oceanit founder Patrick Sullivan; Matson Navigation Co.; and Alexander &Baldwin HiPAC.
Ige’s Cabinet members, deputy directors and other state officials were among his donors, including:
>> Linda Chu Takayama, Department of Taxation
interim director
>> Suzanne Case, Department of Land and Natural Resources director
>> Catherine Awakuni,
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
director
>> Virginia Pressler, Department of Health director
>> Pankaj Bhanot, Department of Human Services
director
>> Rod Becker, Department of Accounting
and General Services
comptroller
>> Nolan Espinda,
Department of Public Safety director
>> Jade Butay, Department of Transportation
director
>> Scott Enright, Department of Agriculture director
>> Ryker Wada, Department of Human Resources Development interim
director
>> Scott Morishige, coordinator on homelessness
>> Craig Hirai, Hawaii Housing Finance and Development Corp. director
>> Randy Iwase, Public Utilities Commission
chairman
Meanwhile, Hanabusa, who formally launched her campaign for governor this month, earlier this week
reported raising $731,945
in contributions for the reporting period. Donations didn’t start flowing into Hanabusa’s campaign until September, when she announced she was considering a run for governor.
A total of 63 donors contributed to her campaign the maximum $6,000 allowed for the race, including retired banker Walter Dods; Arthur Ushijima, president and CEO of The Queen’s Health System; NextEra
Energy President Eric
Gleason and NextEra CEO James Robo; Hawaii Gas President and CEO Alicia Moy; Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters PAC; and developers Jeffrey Stone, Christine Camp and Everett Dowling.
“Our focus has been on grass-roots efforts statewide and establishing a sound foundation on which we can build toward a strong position to carry us through to the primary election in August,” Hanabusa said in a statement.
Campaign finance reports for Republican gubernatorial candidates state Rep. Andria Tupola and retired attorney John Carroll were not available as of Wednesday night.
Four of the five candidates in the lieutenant governor’s race, meanwhile, filed reports showing state Sen. Jill Tokuda raised the most money so far.
Tokuda (D, Kailua-Kaneohe) pulled in $334,306 in donations and reported $403,496 in cash
on hand as of Dec. 31.
State Sen. Josh Green (D, Naalehu-Kailua Kona) raised $206,591 in contributions, which, when added to an
already sizable war chest, left him with $536,496 in cash on hand.
Former Board of Education member Kim Coco
Iwamoto reported raising $112,146 while state Sen. Will Espero (D, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) raised $25,275.
A report was not yet available for Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho, who is also running for the seat.
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