HONOLULU (AP) — Voters are heading to the polls for Hawaii’s Republican presidential caucus Tuesday, in a race where some local voters say the candidates have failed to show the type of virtues they admire.
Observers expect 10,000 or more voters to turn out for the caucus in the largely Democratic state.
But some Hawaii Republicans worry the tone of the presidential campaigns will discourage voters in a state where modesty and harmony are revered. For instance, they say Donald Trump’s remarks about keeping Muslims out of the country turned them off.
“If candidates are looking to win over the state, then I think they need to be a little bit more open to diversity and a little more centrist about their approach,” said Beth Fukumoto-Chang, the House Minority Floor Leader.
Nathan Paikai, a minister who is leading Trump’s campaign efforts in Hawaii, sees it differently.
“There’s many people out there who say, ‘I don’t like the way he talks,” Paikai said about Trump. “My response is, if it’s a soft tone and it’s a lie, do you believe it? What does it matter about tone?”
The Hawaii Republican Party is running the caucus in a style similar to a primary election, meaning Republicans will cast their votes privately.
They’re setting up polling stations on every island for a total of 45 polling places at 44 different locations.
Six candidates will appear on Hawaii’s Republican presidential caucus ballot, including current contenders Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Marco Rubio and Trump. Jeb Bush and Ben Carson also will appear, despite dropping out, since they did so after Hawaii’s ballot deadline.
Hawaii will send 19 delegates to the Republican National Convention. The caucus voting will determine how many delegates each candidate will get, based on a proportion of the votes. Then, based on the results, each candidate’s campaign will select which delegates they’ll send to the convention to cast their votes.
Despite being small and being sandwiched between Super Tuesday and major battles in Ohio and Florida, Hawaii’s Republican presidential caucus is a big deal in the state.
“Because the state doesn’t have a party line voter registration system, this is our method to bring people into the party,” said Andrew Walden, chairman of the caucus committee for the Hawaii Republican Party. Any registered voter who signs a Republican Party card can vote in the caucus, and unregistered residents will be able to register to vote at polling locations on caucus day.
In 2012, the Republican caucuses in Hawaii drew 10,000 participants, and organizers are hoping for the same amount this year. They printed 30,000 ballots, Walden said.