U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele to be fined $1,000 for violating campaign spending law

U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele, who gave up a chance for reelection to Congress to instead run unsuccessfully for governor, was fined $1,000 after admitting to the state Campaign Spending Commission that he illegally used an 8-year-old list of donors to Gov. David Ige to solicit contributions to his own gubernatorial campaign.

The commission issued the fine Thursday, with general counsel Gary Kam telling members that Kahele, a Democrat, will have two weeks to pay the penalty after he is given notice. The money will be deposited into the state general fund.

On July 8, a month ahead of the Aug. 13 Democratic Party primary election, Ige’s staff forwarded to the Campaign Spending Commission a complaint from a 2014 Ige donor who had received a letter asking for a donation to Kahele’s campaign, Kam said.

A representative from Ige’s campaign told commission investigators that donor information was not shared with Kahele’s campaign, although donors and their amounts are public record.

It is against state law to use another candidate’s donor list to seek campaign contributions.

Kahele did not respond to two letters from the Campaign Spending Commission, but later called the commission staff and acknowledged he had used Ige’s 2014 donor list and “randomly selected 100 or so” donors to write them letters seeking contributions to his fundraising efforts, Kam said.

Kahele spent more than $305,000 in his Democratic primary campaign and finished in third place with 37,738 votes, or 14.5% of the votes cast.

Kahele launched his campaign in May pledging not to accept campaign donations from political action committees, super PACs, corporations and mainland donors as he had in the past, saying he had become part of the problem of influence peddling.

Instead, he pledged to accept only donations of $100 or less, hoping to qualify for an additional $208,000 in state matching funds. However, Kahele missed the June deadline to file a sworn and notarized affidavit that he would follow mandatory spending limits, making him ineligible for state campaign funds.

Altogether, according to Campaign Spending Commission Associate Director Tony Baldomero, the primary election attracted $15.37 million in political contributions, with Lt. Gov. Josh Green drawing the most — $3.41 million — in winning the Democratic primary for governor.

Green, who collected 60.6% of the vote, also spent the most of any candidate: $3.07 million, Baldomero said.

Green was followed in contributions by his now-­lieutenant governor running mate, state House Rep. Sylvia Luke, who raised $934,000.

Candidates also received a total of $3.5 million in campaign loans, led by unsuccessful Democratic gubernatorial candidate Vicky Cayetano, who lent her campaign $2.35 million. The entrepreneur and former Hawaii first lady finished second behind Green, with 20.1% of the vote.

Keith Amemiya, the third-place finisher in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, received $310,000 in loans.

The Campaign Spending Commission on Thursday also fined more than 20 candidates, their campaigns and the Libertarian Party of Hawaii, mostly for failing to meet financial reporting deadlines.

Most of the candidates and campaigns worked out agreements to lower their penalties, including state Rep. Bob McDermott, a Republican who is running for Congress against U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.

Even though it was McDermott’s second violation, he received a fine of just $25.

Office of Hawaiian Affairs candidate Chad Owens, his treasurer and his campaign received a fine of $500 for failing to file July campaign disclosure reports by an Aug. 3 deadline, commission Executive Director Kristin Izumi-Nitao told the panel Thursday.

Owens is a former standout for the University of Hawaii football team and hosts “The CO2 Run Dwn” sports webcast on staradvertiser.com.

He eventually filed the reports, but only after he was sent a letter by the commission staff, followed by an Aug. 18 voicemail notifying him that his case was going before the commission, Izumi-­Nitao said.

Unlike some other candidates and their treasurers who acknowledged their violations, neither Owens nor anyone from his campaign appeared at Thursday’s meeting.

The commission deferred a complaint against “Friends of Kaniela Ing” for allegedly failing to file a campaign spending report. Ing, a former state representative for South Maui and former candidate for Congress, is not running in this election cycle.

In 2018 the Campaign Spending Commission fined then-Rep. Ing more than $15,000.

In that case Ing was penalized for filing 23 false reports between 2011 and 2016 and using campaign funds to cover $2,125 in rent payments for residences on Oahu and Maui and a $219 payment on his domestic partner’s credit card account. Ing also deposited a $2,000 campaign check into his personal checking account and never reported it on his campaign spending reports.