Differences emerge between Duke Aiona and new running mate

There are some ideological differences between Hawaii gubernatorial Republican running mates James “Duke” Aiona and Seaula Tupai Jr., especially when it comes to abortion and gun control.

Aiona, a two-time former lieutenant governor, is now making his third run for the governor’s office and told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser that he has met Tupai, a Hilo-based minister, who won the primary race for lieutenant governor.

“He’s more on the conservative side,” Aiona, 67, said of Tupai, calling him “new.”

Tupai, 43, did not immediately respond to multiple requests for an interview with the Star-Advertiser.

In Hawaii, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor campaign separately ahead of the party primary elections and then team up to run as a slate in the general election, which will be held Nov. 8 this year.

The relationships can sometimes be awkward, as with Gov. David Ige’s first lieutenant governor, Shan Tsutsui, who gave two days’ notice in 2018 that he was resigning in frustration, and with current Lt. Gov. Josh Green, who sometimes had different messaging from Ige regarding homelessness and the state’s response to COVID-19.

Asked whether he supported the possibility of Hawaii’s gubernatorial candidates hand-picking their running mates, Green joked to the Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” live­stream program that he probably would not be lieutenant governor if that were the case.

Having met Tupai, Aiona said their approaches to abortion differ in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade.

Aiona, a former deputy prosecutor, deputy corporation counsel and Circuit Court judge, said it is up to the Legislature — not Hawaii’s governor — to determine whether access to abortion should change in Hawaii following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that sends the issue back to individual states to determine.

“In the state of Hawaii abortion is legal, and the Legislature will determine the future of abortion in Hawaii; that’s not the role of the governor,” Aiona said.

He called Tupai “a pro-life advocate. Some people are a little bit emotional on that, and I’m not sure what his emotions are.”

Asked about their views on gun control, especially in an island state with some of the strictest regulations in the nation, Aiona said, “While I might believe in the Second Amendment, I know there’s limitations. He might think I’m a little too restrictive.”

Tupai writes on his campaign website that women considering abortion should “save the lives they carry in their wombs by linking them with couples and individuals wanting to adopt as well as with adoption organizations.”

He also says that the Second Amendment “gives citizens the right to carry handguns outside their homes to protect themselves from deadly criminals. … We would come against red flag laws and ghost bans that don’t advocate for the people of Hawaii’s right to own and bear firearms.”

Tupai also plans to “Look to implement some form of castle law doctrine which is similar to stand your ground laws in other states. We look forward to working with the legislative branch in putting laws in place to make Hawaii safer,” his website says.

Aiona and Tupai also have differences about capping Hawaii tourism — limits that appear to be unconstitutional because of the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Aiona wrote in a Star- Advertiser candidate questionnaire, “This question cannot be answered until it is framed in a better context. What is the means by which the number of tourists to Hawai‘i will be slowed or limited? Depending on the means that is selected, is it legal? How will you determine the proper number of tourists to Hawai‘i? Would we have different limits for the various Islands? And if so what is that number and how would it be determined? How do we decide who gets to visit our islands? This is just some of the contextual information we would need to have before we can answer this question.”

Tupai wrote in his questionnaire, “Although I have no issue with tourism being a part of our economy, our current reliance is overloading our already crowded roads, beaches, and Aina. I believe that we, as a state, can put a small cap on tourism while we take care of our most pressing issues.”

Lynn Finnegan, chair of the Republican Party of Hawaii, called Tupai “a strong Constitutionalist who views things through the Constitution.”

“He’s more conservative- leaning, but I don’t know exactly where that begins and where that ends,” Finnegan said. “The first thing that I noticed about Junior is that he’s deeply rooted in family, deeply rooted in his faith. How that comes across is that he has a strong set of beliefs and he has garnered a lot of support from all of our Republican candidates who are running. Even with his strong beliefs, he can be a unifying person to the party.”

Like Tupai, Aiona regularly cites his Christian faith. Tupai specifically believes that “Our constitutional freedom to exercise our faith has been suppressed in many ways,” he wrote on his website. “And the sanctity of our families — the very fabric of our society — has been defiled. Consequently, we’ve seen the ongoing erosion of our society.”

One of his faith-based plans would be to “Protect parental rights from government control in raising their children in a safe and nurturing family environment.”

Tupai’s parents emigrated from American Samoa, and “Jr.” — as Tupai calls himself on his website — was born and raised in California. His father was a minister and served at a Samoan Assemblies of God church in Monterey.

“Jr.” is now the senior pastor at Overcoming Faith Center in Hilo, although his campaign said he spends five days a week on Oahu when not ministering. He graduated from Washington State University, where he played football while receiving a master’s degree in music in 2005 before moving to Hilo in 2007.

​He worked at the Hawai‘i National Guard Youth Challenge Academy in Hilo and coached football at Hilo High School and at Kamehameha Schools Hawai‘i.

“For far too long, servants in office have not listened to the people and have forgotten what it means to serve,” Tupai writes on his website. “It’s about time to put people in office who are close to the pulse of the community.”

Finnegan, the Republican Party chair, said the party will work to convince supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidates Kai Kahele and Vicky Cayetano to vote Republican on Nov. 8.

Finnegan said she believes that some business-oriented, moderate-leaning supporters of Cayetano could vote Republican, while some Democratic Hawaiian voters could choose Aiona, a Hawaiian. Some Polynesian Democrats, she said, could prefer Tupai.

“People will be able to relate to candidates from a similar culture,” Finnegan said. “There’s opportunity here. … It’ll be a challenge, but I think the environment is ripe for people wanting to get involved.”