Chris Manabat, the son of state Rep. Rida Cabanilla and the winner of the Democratic primary in House District 40 in August, was not a member of the Democratic Party of Hawaii at the time of the candidate filing deadline on June 5.
Manabat said he turned in his party membership card after the deadline after being informed by Dante Carpenter, the party’s chairman, that he was not a member eligible to run for office.
Carpenter had also informed the state Office of Elections, but he was told that it was up to the party, and not the Office of Elections, to go to Circuit Court and challenge Manabat’s eligibility.
"He has since become a Democrat, but the practical fact was that he was not at the time of the filing," Carpenter said Wednesday.
Carpenter said the party lacked the financial resources for a court challenge.
The party made a similar decision not to challenge the candidacy of Laura H. Thielen, former director of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources under Republican Gov. Linda Lingle. The party had determined Thielen was ineligible to run because she had not been a member in good standing for six months prior to the filing deadline. Thielen defeated state Sen. Pohai Ryan in the Democratic primary in Senate District 25, and faces former state Senate Minority Leader Fred Hemmings in November.
Rose Martinez, who finished second to Manabat in the primary, has filed complaints with the party and the Office of Elections.
Under state law, candidates are required to file sworn oaths that they are members of the political party they want to represent. But the Office of Elections has made it clear that political parties have the responsibility to determine and enforce membership rules. No one challenged Manabat’s candidacy or his primary victory in court within the statutory deadline.
Scott Nago, the state’s chief election officer, has forwarded to the state Attorney General’s Office Martinez’s complaint that Manabat gave false information about his party membership to the Office of Elections.
"I am asking the Democratic Party of Hawaii to immediately disqualify Mr. Manabat based upon my facts, for the better of the State of Hawaii and for the betterment of the party, not to mention the embarrassment," Martinez said in her letter to the party.
"… I am asking to immediately disqualify him and replace myself accordingly."
As it did in Thielen’s case, the party has the option of taking internal action against Manabat for violating the party’s rules, including expulsion. But such action would not remove Manabat from the general election ballot. An expulsion could prevent Manabat from running for re-election as a Democrat in two years if he were to win against former state Rep. Bob McDermott in November.
The party has yet to take any action against Thielen.
Manabat said he thought he had joined the party two years ago at a Democratic event. He said he responded immediately when he was informed by Carpenter in June that he was not a member.
"Now that I’ve run as a Democrat and won the Democratic primary for my district, I’m just hoping" that the party will take no punitive action, Manabat said.
