There was enough good news in the latest reports filed with the Federal Election Commission for the campaigns of four leading candidates in the Hawaii 1st Congressional District to cheer.
» Republican Charles Djou, the onetime U.S. House member, raised $48,925 during the July 1-20 period, more than any other candidate in the race, including the seven Democrats seeking the job, and has more money available than any of them.
» Democrat Mark Takai, the veteran state representative, raised $34,752 during that same "pre-primary" period, more than any other Democrat. His $165,332 in cash on hand ranks third among Democrats.
» Democrat Donna Mercado Kim, the state Senate president, raised $22,639 during the period, second highest among the Democrats. She continues to be the candidate who’s raised the most overall and has more cash on hand left — $375,424 — than any other Democrat.
» Democrat Stanley Chang, one of three Honolulu City Council members in the crowded Democratic primary, continues to wage a dogged fight, collecting $21,744 during the period, third highest. He reported $179,232 in cash on hand, ranking him second among Democrats behind Kim.
Monday was the deadline for congressional candidates to file their FEC pre-primary reports.
Councilman Ikaika Anderson has raised $445,725 to date but only $10,370 in the 20-day pre-primary period. Meanwhile, Sen. Will Espero raised $5,508 during the period, and Councilman Joey Manahan raised $3,385.
Human rights activist Kathryn Xian had not filed as of 7 p.m. Monday. In her previous report, for the period through June 30, Xian had raised $12,947 in total and had cash on hand of $5,221.
Also seeking the office are Republican Allan Levene and nonpartisans Calvin Griffin and Robert H. Meyer. None had filed any campaign financing reports, but the FEC exempts from reporting requirements candidates who have neither raised nor spent a minimum of $5,000.
Djou, in a news release, pointed out that he also raised the most for the second reporting period in a row. In the second quarter, which ran from April to June, Djou reported $435,000 in contributions. Djou launched his campaign in early April, far later than any of the Democrats.
That Djou’s cash-on-hand total of $439,707 is the most among all candidates is not surprising because he has done little advertising and is an overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination over little-known Allan Levene.
Takai, in a release, said he finished as the top Democratic fundraiser for the race for the second period in a row. He collected $212,000 from April to June, about $11,000 more than Kim. Polls have shown Kim the front-runner and Takai second.
Kimreceived another bit of good news via the FEC.
Women Vote! — the independent expenditure arm of the political action group EMILY’s List — reported Monday that it will spend $17,441 on mail-outs in support of Kim. It’s the second independent expenditure on a 1st District candidate to be reported.
Last week VoteVets.org Action Find reported it is spending $100,000 to support Takai’s candidacy.
In related news, Takai confirmed to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Monday that he was fined $1,000 by the state Campaign Spending Commission for improper reporting. He said that his state House campaign fund paid $20,000 to a mainland firm to conduct polling to look at his viability compared with other candidates in statewide elections.
At the time, Takai said, he was exploring various options and had not decided to run for Congress. The poll included potential candidates for governor and lieutenant governor.
Takai acknowledged that the poll helped persuade him to run for Congress, but said had he chosen to run for governor, lieutenant governor or some other state race, charging the poll to his state campaign account would not have been a violation. Shortly after he announced he was running for Congress last summer, Takai said he was approached by the state commission, and he agreed to reimburse his state campaign account from his federal campaign fund and to pay a $1,000 penalty. The violation was his first in 20 years of political office, he said.
The primary election is Aug. 9, although absentee voting has begun.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa is not seeking re-election, choosing instead to challenge fellow Democrat Brian Schatz for the Senate seat he was appointed to following the death of Sen. Daniel K. Inouye in December 2012.
