Duke Kahanamoku could handle the upcoming challenge in style. A massive wave is heading for Hawaii in the form of a super-competitive and crowded race for governor and lieutenant governor next year. No fewer than 17 Democrats are declared or considering diving into the race. Such large packs of qualified candidates often lead to elections becoming hurricanes of mudslinging. Yet the winning candidates need not devolve into negative tactics. Instead, clever candidates might consider not going negative, but going Native Hawaiian.

Many campaigns begin positive and then turn nasty, but the truly best campaigns find ways to ride a positive message like a wave all the way to victory. Honolulu’s election history offers a potent example: the late Duke Kahanamoku’s way is refreshingly different than what is common today.

“In Hawai’i, we greet friends, loved ones and strangers with aloha, which means love,” said Kahanamoku. After a career in sports, he ran for Honolulu sheriff in 1934. On the campaign trail, he walked the talk.

A legend today, Kahanamoku was no shoo-in when he ran for office, despite his renown from Olympic victories and popularizing surfing. In the Democrat primary, his well-qualified opponents resorted to negative politics and derided his lack of experience in law enforcement.

When attacked, candidates often go off-message and lash back. Not Kahanamoku. Nonplussed by the attacks, he rode them out with a message of love and integrity. Kahanamoku’s established integrity was a vote-determinative issue. He pledged to bring justice and incorruptibility to the office of sheriff. This clear message helped distinguish him from the pack and win the primary. His Republican opponent in the general election also maligned his lack of experience, but he, too, failed to sink Kahanamoku. The Duke won with 54% of the vote.

While riding the campaign wave, he gave brief speeches beginning in Hawaiian then repeating them in English. The technique controlled the narrative without cluttering his message. It also focused on turning out his Native Hawaiian base.

In crowded races like the 1934 primary, candidates often only need a small slice of the electorate to edge out competition. Kahanamoku won by .007% in the primary. But it was enough. Candidates today should test the waters on Kahanamoku’s approach and expand upon it. Consolidating a key voting block like Native Hawaiians is nothing new, but energizing such a constituency into a giant wave of support is a game-changer.

Hawaii is notorious for low-turnout elections with average primary turnout cratering 50% since 1960. Native Hawaiians have low rates of voting, which offers candidates an edge. Some 10% of Hawaii’s population is Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander alone, but 27% claim some “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander” ancestry. If a candidate can figure out how to connect with Native Hawaiians and energize them, they could turn this political swell into a tidal wave of votes, thereby juicing turnout. Each additional person a campaign turns out, that others did not even consider likely voters, is a major advantage.

With major gubernatorial candidates already running like Josh Green, Kirk Caldwell and Vicky Cayetano, and many rumored candidates for lieutenant governor, it will take a creative strategy to separate from the pack. For aspiring leaders, Duke Kahanamoku has already led the way. “Try meeting or leaving people with Aloha. You’ll be surprised by their reaction,” he imparted. Kahanamoku’s spirit is there if one knows where to look.

———

California-based Garrett Biggs is a “Pollie Award”-winning political strategist, who has advised more than 120 political campaigns in the U.S., including in Hawaii.