As we slouch toward yet another uninspiring election — facing ballots devoid of electable firebrands or practical visionaries, staring down at names of people we suspect just need a steady job and want the status of being in elected office and the perks of always being greeted with a lei and preferential seating at public events — perhaps we can take heart that the wish for shining stars on the ballot isn’t a new one.
Long ago, Hawaii was hoping for that magical mix of celebrity, humility and warmth in a candidate, and tried to coax Hawaii’s beloved icon into running for higher office.
In September 1937, Duke Kahanamoku, Hawaii’s Olympic gold medalist, Waikiki longboard surfer and ambassador of aloha, found himself having to beat back rumors he was planning to run for Honolulu mayor.
The headline in the Honolulu Advertiser was catchy:
“Me Mayor? Nertz Says Kahanamoku.”
Nertz, apparently, was slang at the time for “nuts,” which meant then, as it does now, “You gotta be kidding me, right?”
Kahanamoku was in elected office at the time. He had served as sheriff for two terms at that point, but swore he had no interest in climbing the political ladder.
According to the newspaper, “Published reports that he was planning to run for mayor on the Democratic ticket next year were ‘all news’ to Sheriff Duke P. Kahanamoku, he said yesterday.
“‘Run for mayor? Nertz,’ said the sheriff, with an expressive shrug of his massive shoulders. ‘I’m perfectly satisfied with my job as sheriff and if the people are kind enough next election time, I’ll keep it. No one has approached me on the subject of becoming a candidate for mayor and to forestall any such plan, I hereby announce once and for all that I do not and never did contemplate seeking this office. Just tell the voters I’ll be a candidate for sheriff again.’”
Kahanamoku’s popularity was so off-the-charts that in the 1938 election, Hawaii Republicans announced they would not field a candidate to oppose Duke for sheriff because, “We feel that Duke has done a great deal to put Hawaii on the map and because of the fame he has brought to the Territory, he is entitled to the support of everyone, Democrat and Republican alike … he has served faithfully and creditably as sheriff for two terms and we feel that he is entitled to re-election by a unanimous vote of the people.”
Of course, such fawning support for Kahanamoku as sheriff could have been a strategy by Republicans to keep him from running for mayor. He was elected sheriff 12 times — everybody loved the guy.
Back here in 2018, there are some good people on the ballot. And there are candidates that are, truth be told, sketchy as hell. But there is no one who is universally beloved. Maybe that doesn’t happen anymore when every fault and foible is amplified on social media. The great Duke Kahanamoku wisely knew that just because he’d win the mayoral election, that didn’t mean he should run.
Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.
