The last day for candidates to file to run in this year’s election is tomorrow. The current listing of those who have filed or at least picked up nomination papers was updated Sunday morning.

Those who appear to have free rides–no one has filed or even taken out nomination papers to run against them–include Democrats David Ige and Bobby Bunda in the senate. In the house, it’s Democrats Jerry Chang, Bob Herkes, Mele Carroll, James Tokioka, Lyla Berg, Scott Nishimoto, Scott Saiki, Kirk Caldwell, Della Au Belatti, Sylvia Luke, Blake Oshiro, Mark Takai, Ryan Yamane, Marcus Oshiro, Ken Ito, and Pono Chong, along with Lynn Finnegan and Cynthia Thielen.

Others currently unopposed but with potential opponents who might file before tomorrow’s deadline are Clift Tsuji, Cindy Evans, Mina Morita, Roland Sagum, Gene Ward, Barbara Marumoto-Coons, Calvin Say, Corinne Ching, Karl Rhoads, Joey Manahan, John Mizuno, Glenn Wakai, Roy Takumi and Jon Riki Karamatsu.

Senator Ron Menor has not yet filed. If he does run, he’ll face opponent Resa Tsuneyoshi.

Rep. Mazie Hirono has not yet filed, according to the latest listing, although she’s been campaigning hard for some time.

To get a bit of that behind the scenes feeling, check out Legistorm.com (“Transparency’s Sidekick”), which now provides public access to personal financial disclosures filed by members of Congress and, in a recent addition, Congressional staff. Here’s a link to the Hawaii delegation.

We spent a couple of hours Sunday afternoon with a friend who was told two months ago that he only had a month to live. I’m so glad we were able to be with him for a bit. He’s beating the odds so far, and every day is an accomplishment, time he knows he can’t count on. He had an interesting assessment. “Nothing is certain, there is no certainty. Everything can change in a brief moment.” He’s relearning that lesson every day.

It was hard to hear his poor assessment of care at Kaiser. His wife put it this way–Kaiser is great until you get sick.