Running mates at odds as Hawaii GOP kicks off campaign

Hawaii Republicans convened at the Hawai’i Convention Center on Friday night to launch their party’s general election campaign and voice support for President Trump’s policies toward immigration, the economy and foreign affairs.

The dinner, where seats went for $200 and donors contributed as much as $10,000 for VIP tables, drew about 200 people and included keynote speeches from prominent Trump associates Stephen Moore, a Heritage Foundation economist who served as a senior adviser to the president during his 2016 campaign, and Don Benton, who Trump appointed director of the Selective Service. Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, which advocates for free markets and limited government, also spoke, receiving a standing ovation.

“We wanted to just remind people that outside the borders of our state, the Republican brand is doing OK. It’s hard to believe that if you are in the state, but the Republican brand nationally is doing OK,” said Shirlene Ostrov, chairwoman of the Hawaii Republican Party. “So our goal was to remind people of that and to go and leave tonight unified that we do have a good message for Hawaii. We are not going to take over, but we can make significant changes incrementally and that is what we are trying to do.”

The Republican Party continues to struggle in Hawaii where politics is dominated by Democrats. Republicans were unable to field candidates during this year’s primary for 33 out of the 51 state House seats and eight of 13 state Senate races.

One of the Republican Party’s strongest candidates this year is House Minority Leader Andria Tupola, who is running for governor against Democratic incumbent David Ige. However, her race, already difficult, will likely be that much harder given divisions with her running mate Marissa Kerns that were on public display during Friday night’s dinner.

Kerns won the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor during the August primary. Tupola and Kerns will now be part of the same team when voters cast ballots in the November general election.

PARTY UNIFIES AROUND TRUMP

Support for Donald Trump within the Republican Party was divided both locally and nationally during the presidential campaign, but since his election members of the party have rallied around his agenda.

During remarks, Benton praised Trump’s commitment to his foreign policy promises, including pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement to combat climate change and the Iran nuclear deal, as well as moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and opening talks with North Korea.

“He’s a man of action, he does what he says he is going to do,” said Benton.

While Trump’s presidency so far has been tumultuous, Benton said that was the idea.

We “needed a disruptor to change America,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen, that’s what we got. So don’t be too surprised when he disrupts things because that’s what we are looking for.”

Moore praised Trump’s economic policies, including slashing corporate tax rates and regulations.

“If the economy is as strong two years from now as it is today, Donald Trump is going to win a 40-state re-election landslide,” said Moore.

Tupola capped off the event in a speech that emphasized her support for Trump, limited government and the need to be united as a party.

“We need to do this together. We need to get in lockstep. We need to stop fighting against one another. We need to start working together,” said Tupola. “We need to be unified … We need to be unified in our message to change what we need for Hawaii. And we are that change.”

But that message of unity wasn’t resonating with her running mate Friday night. Kerns stormed away from her VIP table to the back of the room several times during the night, cursing and complaining that Tupola’s political views were too liberal. She accused the local party leadership of not giving her a name tag or a chance to speak and seating her at a table with the Young Republicans, rather than major donors. At one point, convention staff pleaded with her to calm down.

“I told (Tupola), you need to apologize because of your voting record,” Kerns told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser as Tupola delivered her speech.

Ostrov, the party chairwoman, said that Kerns was indeed given a name tag and had been seated at a table with one of the biggest donors, KC Realty, which gave $11,000.

“I think it reflects the diversity of the party and the spectrum of diversity,” said Ostrov when asked about the tension. “I know that when we are going into the race they are going to run together.”