HILO — There’s a definite incumbent advantage when it comes to raising money for County Council elections.
Mail-in absentee ballots should already be arriving in Big Island postal boxes after being mailed out Tuesday. Polls open for early voting Aug. 1, with primary Election Day on Aug. 13.
Council candidates must get more than 50 percent of the votes cast to avoid a runoff in November.
A West Hawaii Today analysis of spending reports filed by 20 candidates in County Council races for the first six months of the year showed incumbent council members coming out on top in fundraising in all but one district where there is an incumbent and a challenger.
The district bucking the trend is District 6, where first-term incumbent Maile David reported raising no money so far, compared to Challenger Raina Whiting’s $2,377. Whiting, who is relying on the state’s partial public campaign funding program, raised her money in contributions of $100 or less within the sprawling South Kona/Ka‘u district.
She’s a Naalehu kindergarten teacher and was formerly a legislative aide to state Sen. Russell Ruderman, D-Puna.
“My campaign team and I have really made a point to seek community support on a grass-root level,” Whiting said Thursday. “Part of that is seeking small campaign donations.”
David said her next campaign report should show some fundraising, but she doesn’t think she’ll receive much more than Whiting has. She said her record in the council should speak for itself.
“I’m running on my experience and what I’ve accomplished during my first term. I’m just hoping the people who supported me will support me again,” David said. “To me, that’s the best kind of advertising and promotion I can get. I’m just trying to do the best I can.”
Another incumbent who reported raising no money was Hilo Councilman Aaron Chung, who still had plenty left over from his previous campaign. He’s begun spending some of the $19,796 in his coffers, leaving him well ahead of two challengers, Dayday Hopkins and William Halversen.
The most money by far is being dumped into Hilo District 3, where there are three candidates seeking the seat left open by the term-limited Dennis “Fresh” Onishi. Three candidates have split $71,463 in contributions, with Hawaii Government Employee Association union employee Moana Kelii raising the most, $31,583.
In comparison, only $10,098 has been raised in a three-way race for Puna’s District 4 seat, left vacant by the incumbent Councilman Greggor Ilagan’s decision to challenge Rudermann to his state Senate seat.
Incumbent Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, meanwhile, is holding her own in contributions with $11,475 in contributions to challenger Tim Richards’ $8,071, which includes almost $5,000 in loans Richards gave his own campaign.
So far, both Wille and Richards are keeping it local, with major contributions coming only from the Big Island, and almost exclusively the North Hawaii region where the race is ongoing.
That’s unlike the 2014 election, when the race became the costliest council race in county history with the infusion of more than $100,000 by a Honolulu super political action committee supporting Wille’s opponent.
The outspoken Wille — one of the most prolific, if not the most prolific, sponsor of substantive bills on the council — is a lightning rod for strong support and opposition.
Some $4,800 of Wille’s contributions came in increments of $100 or less, compared to $480 of Richards’ $3,130 in contributions.
“I do have lot of $20 and $25 checks,” Wille said. “I’m out in the community a lot.”
Richards is equally confident about his campaign.
“The campaign is going very well,” Richards said in email response to a telephone call Thursday. “We are very fiscally minded in all we do and careful not to over extend ourselves.”
Campaign contributions reported in the first 6 months of 2016
DISTRICT 9
Margaret Wille$11,475
Tim Richards$8,071
DISTRICT 8
Karen Eoff$2,586
Jeffrey Citron$2,475
DISTRICT 7
Dru Kanuha$7,700
Nestorio Domingo$200
DISTRICT 6
Raina Whiting$2,377
Maile David$0
DISTRICT 5
Daniel Paleka$13,237
Jennifer Ruggles$7,620
DISTRICT 4
Madie Greene$5,274
Eileen Ohara$4,824
Michael Bernard$0
DISTRICT 3
Moana Kelii$31,583
Susan Lee Loy$24,600
Grace Castillo$15,280
DISTRICT 2
Aaron Chung$0
William Halversen$0
Dayday Hopkins$0
DISTRICT 1
Valerie Poindexter$900
