Ige far outstrips Tupola in fundraising

Gov. David Ige has spent nearly $359,000 on his general election campaign against Republican Andria Tupola so far, and has spent more than $2.88 million on his overall re-election effort, according to his latest report with the state Campaign Spending Commission.

The vast majority of Ige’s spending was in the Democratic primary, where he successfully fended off a strong challenge from U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa. Ige spent more than $2.475 million on the primary election, while Hanabusa spent slightly more than $2.1 million, according to campaign spending records.

Ige reported he had $216,045 in cash on hand Oct. 22 as he entered the final weeks before the Nov. 6 general election. Tupola’s latest campaign finance filing, covering the most recent period from Aug. 12 to Oct. 22, was not available at press time.

Tupola previously reported she spent $320,083 on her primary election contest with former state Sen. John Carroll, whom she defeated easily. Tupola had only $11,731 in cash on hand at the end of that primary.

In the race for lieutenant governor, Democratic state Sen. Josh Green reported he has spent more than $1.088 million on the race to date, including $43,253 since the primary election.

His Republican opponent, Marissa Kerns, reported spending $19,069 on the election as of Aug. 11, but her latest report, covering the period from Aug. 12 to Oct. 22, was unavailable.

Green is the first candidate for lieutenant governor to spend more than $1 million on the race, and also benefited from hundreds of thousands of dollars in political advertising in support of his campaign this year that was financed by a political action committee funded by the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters.

“I am sincerely grateful to all of our constituents and supporters for their generosity and support in my administrationʻs hard work,” Ige said in a written statement Monday. “With Josh Green as our lieutenant governor candidate, we are working together to reach voters across the state to ask for their support, and to also vote for all Hawaii Democratic Party candidates. Together, we will proudly make Hawaii the greatest state in our country.”