Carpenters super PAC to support Hanabusa campaign

The super political action committee that’s spent more than $400,000 so far this campaign season extolling the virtues of lieutenant governor hopeful Josh Green is now turning its attention to helping U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s bid to unseat Gov. David Ige.

Be Change Now, an independent expenditure committee that’s receiving its money from the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, announced its intentions to support Hanabusa in a news release Friday.

“Throughout her career, Colleen Hanabusa has shown only one thing in mind and that’s fighting for the people of Hawaii,” the group said. “Whether it is her championing better health care, supporting women through equal pay or fighting for family­-friendly policies like paid family leave, Colleen Hanabusa will be a governor who will drive Hawaii forward.”

The carpenters union endorsed Hanabusa in February, so Be Change Now’s support is not entirely a surprise.

But the boost comes at a critical time with Hawaii’s Aug. 11 primary election day less than a month away. Campaign spending reports that were submitted Thursday to the state Campaign Spending Commission show that while Hanabusa has out-gained and out-spent Ige during the first six months of this year, Ige has a 2-to-1 edge in available cash.

On Thursday, Be Change Now informed the state Campaign Spending Commission that it was paying $53,836 to Washington, D.C.-based Putnam Partners for advertising in support of Hanabusa.

Putnam is also one of four mainland advertising and marketing firms that Be Change Now has enlisted to help Green’s campaign. Putnam’s website boasts of having helped five presidential candidates, including former President Barack Obama, and having “helped elect 10 U.S. senators, 10 U.S. governors and 46 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.”

The other firms are Washington, D.C.-based Targeted Platform Media, Buying Time LLC and Talbot Digital.

Among the television ads that Be Change Now have run on Green’s behalf are ones that highlight his support for issues of importance to women and children.

Be Change Now, like other super PACs, is 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 there is no coordination between the super PAC and any candidate or party.

The Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters, the largest construction union in the state, is one of the key sponsors of the Pacific Resources Partnership, along with more than 240 unionized contractors.

PRP’s political action committee, in 2012, spent more than $3.6 million in a campaign aimed at thwarting former Gov. Ben Cayetano’s bid for Honolulu mayor. Cayetano was the biggest­-name opponent of rail against incumbent Peter Carlisle and eventual winner Kirk Caldwell.

In a strange twist, Caldwell is now supporting Ige’s re-election bid while Cayetano, like the carpenters union and Be Change Now, is supporting Hanabusa.

Glenna Wong, a spokeswoman for the Ige campaign, said it was no surprise that the super PAC is supporting Hanabusa since the carpenters union already has announced its backing. Wong pointed to the ties between Be Change Now and the PRP SuperPAC.

“The PRP SuperPAC attacked former Gov. Cayetano in his bid to be mayor of Honolulu,” Wong said. “This is not the Hawaii way. Our Democratic legacy has always been to level the playing field amongst candidates, and to prevent a candidate and his or her supporters from hiding special interest contributions through this mechanism.”

Officials with Be Change Now and the Hanabusa campaign did not respond to requests for comment Friday.

It’s unclear how much Be Change Now is spending on the election. Super PACs do not need to file their first spending reports until Aug. 1.

Besides the ads for Green and Hanabusa, Be Change Now also reported it is spending $13,459 to support the campaign of Honolulu City Council candidate Tyler Dos-Santos Tam, head of the Hawaii Construction Alliance.

Critics of super PACs want Congress to ban them, arguing that they allow powerful entities with large coffers to exert too much influence over an election.

Traditional noncandidate committees have a limit on how much money they can contribute directly to a candidate for a state or county election: $6,000 per election for a statewide four-year seat, $4,000 for a nonstatewide four-year seat and $2,000 for a two-year seat.

Super PACs, which can spend as much as they want to support or oppose a candidate or ballot issue so long as there is no coordination, were spawned in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Citizens United v. FEC.