I’ll begin with a caveat: I’ve got little knowledge of the ins and outs of the internal battle going on within the Hawaii Republican Party.
That said, it’s clear the current dispute over the party’s January 21 election of Ted Liu, who served as director of the Depatment of Business, Economic Development and Tourism during the Lingle administration, to serve on the Republican National Committee.
Liu was elected by a narrow 31-30 margin over former GOP state chairman, Willes Lee.
Liu was strongly backed by Lingle’s wing of the party, with supporting letters circulated on Liu’s behalf from Duke Aiona, former Lingle policy advisor Linda Smith, and Dylan Nonaka, another former party chairman.
Liu was praised for his campaign work in support of Lingle, Aiona, and the unsuccessful 2010 House race by current party chairman, David Chang.
Lee is credited with being among those who challenged the party’s financial management after it was disclosed that the state party was facing substantial debts and in danger of losing its office. It was clear during the discussion of party finances that some in the party believe it’s resources were unfairly hijacked by Lingle and a few favored candidates rather than spread among the larger number of GOP candidates.
Lee’s backers content the Lingle faction is trying to “control every aspect of the party.”
The initial vote count for national committeeman reportedly favored Lee by a one-vote margin. The final vote came after a series of challenges were decided in favor of Liu, shifting the narrow margin in his favor.
Several challenges are apparently pending before the party’s rules committee, including challenges from Oahu, Maui, and Hilo, along with a challenge to a proxy vote that was allowed to provide the final margin.
One GOP activist described the process:
…it is our understanding that Willes Lee actually won the race 31-29 but due to some rulings by Terry Thomason, Rules Chair of the party who made some rulings that were never the intent of the rules committee. One challenge was in favor of Ted Liu which made the vote 31-30, then one vote that was counted for Willes Lee, was taken away from him as it was ruled an invalid vote. Therefore, the race was now tied 30-30.
At this point is were the fun begins, Chairman Chang and others in support of Ted Liu, take that vote which was deemed invalid from Willes’ total, (keep in mind that this proxy should have never counted in the first place due to the person not being on the phone when roll was taken, along with the fact proxy came in 4 days prior to the election and the rule was that it had to come in the day of the election), this “invalid vote” was now counted in favor of Ted Liu. (please see the challenge that detail this issue, which is attached). There are three other challenges that were either disregarded by the Rules Chair and Chairman Chang also affected the outcome of the vote.
Therefore, as evidenced, the winner of the NCM race should be Willes Lee or deemed a tie.
From a “what a small world!” perspective, I was interested that GOP Rules Committee chairman, Terry Thomason, is a member of the Alston Hunt Floyd & Ing law firm, where Bill Kaneko, Gov. Abercrombie’s campaign chair and key administration insider, also hangs his hat.
I’m still trying to sort through these documents, which I only recently obtained. In the meantime, I’m sure readers would be interested to hear the perspectives of any of those involved in this internal party dispute who might want to comment on its political implications for 2012.
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OVERALL good reporting. I differ slightly with your take on Willes Lee.
It was former Party Chair Jonah Ka’auwai who screwed things up financially. The religious right backed chairman couldn’t raise enough money to keep the lights on.
The rest of your reporting hits the mark.
Lingle has always been a double-edged sword for the Hawaii GOP. She is the only Hawaii Republican with the ability to raise big bucks and win statewide office, yet her presence within the party suffocates other GOP candidates (and viewpoints).
Willes Lee used to be a Lingle insider. Not sure why he fell out of her favor. With his support coming from grass-roots conservatives (libertarians, religious right, party members fed up with Lingle), I guess he saw an opening and went for it.
Evidently Ted Liu is Lingle’s boy (for now). He’s smart, sharp and well connected.
In the end, as it always happens at Hawaii GOP functions, Lingle and her people found a way to win.
Is not Liu the former head of DBED who spent thousands on expensive French liqueur in Beijing during Lingle’s frequent visits there?
Ian, I am not sure it is such a “small world” after all. AHF&I is a pretty large firm with lotsa lawyers. They are smart enough to have people politically connected with a lot of players. I would not assume the “connection” between Bill Kaneko and Terry Thomason is of any greater significance.
Reading through the complaints, it appears proxies were assigned to Oahu-based people who did not live in the districts they were supposed to represent. The Democratic Party’s rules allow this. The GOP Rules do not. They are quite explicit. The word “proxy” is not used, but a party official is allowed to designate as their alternate another officer from the district to serve in theri stead in votes like this. Should no subordinate officer be available, they can designate any other member of the district to represent them.
The Oahu designees did NOT live in the district and therefore could NOT vote in the stead of the absent officer.
One of the disputed votes appears to have been cast by Dylan Nonaka. In what you have labelled the “Hilo Complaint,” Nonaka is not explicitly named, but the description is of someone who is legally registered to vote in Enchanted Lakes and now claims to live in a district on the Big Island. It appears he was attempting to cast a proxy vote for a district chair from Hawaii County.
It is not clear from the challenge whether the complainant is contending that Nonaka is continuing to reside in Enchanted Lake or if the challenge rests upon the technical point that he has not legally changed his voter registration and is therefore not legally a member of the Hawaii County party organization.
I am scarcely an objective observer. But under my reading of their Rules, I am forced to agree with the conclusion of the email sent to you:
“… as evidenced, the winner of the NCM race should be Willes Lee or deemed a tie.”
It will be interesting to see what happens if the GOP state Rules Committee tries to uphold the election of Ted Liu. I cannot see how that would be a fair determination. And the alignment of Terry Thomason with the Lingle faction would make such a ruling extremely awkward and problematic.
What– chicanery, and cheating at the republican party? This surprises anyone?
I guess I’m pretty much in agreement with much of the previous comments (with no replies yet under their respective threads):
1. My Hawaiian is very limited, doesn’t “Ka’auwai” mean “ditch” or “sewer” or something similar?
2. Lingle definitely suffocates other candidates, like a hot air balloon she floats to the top.
3. Wasn’t Liu the Lingle-appointed head of DBEDT (aka “dee bet”)?
…anyway, again this all is generally reflective of the GOP (“grand oil party”) and these dang rape-public-cans.
This statement is not true: “The final vote came after a series of challenges were decided in favor of Liu, shifting the narrow margin in his favor.”
Sounds pretty well documented to me. What’s your competing theory?
There was a circulation that questioned the supposedly GOP staff Erin Kealoha who was “uneven” in channeling resources to GOP candidates.
One failed GOP candidate was Richard Lee Fale from Ko’olaluoa who ran for House of Representatives two years ago. Fale was also ousted as Chair of Ko’olauloa Neighborhood Board by Hauula residents. Kealoha later married Fale.
The Republican Party has the lone Senator in Sam Slom. GOP must not be aware of their distinct minority to continue this infighting.
At least the Democratic Party is astute enough to rubberstamp whomever Sen. Inouye deems as the chosen one.
Rare exceptions result from time to time but the game plan is fairly predictable.
This must be a different “charles” from the knowledgeable guy who used to post frequently, sharing his sharp insights.
Let’s TRY to find an equivalent set of circumstances within the Democratic Party’s state central committee. The closest I can come up with is during the election of delegates to the 2008 Democratic National Convention.
By way of brief background, most of the Dem National delegates are elected. Most of those by delegates to the state convention and a smaller group in a special meeting of the SCC held immediately after the state convention. In 2008, Senator Inouye was supporting the election of Hillary Clinton. Most party members supported Barack Obama. During the special SCC meeting, Inouye’s people requested that his top aide, Jennifer Sabas, be elected as a delegate.
The Inouye and Clinton people had provided almost all the volunteer help for doing the many tasks necessary for the convention to happen: the registration, the copying and coalating of documents, the set up and break down, etc. The Obama people had not lifted a finger. (I was an Obama supporter, so I am not saying this out of bias). Team Inouye had not tried to control decisionmaking in exchange for all their work. This was the ONLY request they made.
When the vote was taken, Sabas narrowly lost. It was a fair election. I know the result upset some of the Senator’s people. No ballots were stuffed, no arms were twisted, no rules were bent to alter the outcome.
Republicans have this exaggerated notion of how “the Democratic Machine” operates. They have then internalized this exaggerated model into their own standards of behavior. Under Lingle, this has resulted in a much more heavyhanded domination of the local GOP than “the Machine” has been able to exert over the Democratic Party for a couple of decades. The formal organization, the Democratic Party of Hawaii, has an incredible amount of internal democracy in its governance. The local GOP, not so much. For as long as I can remember, Democratic members have been able to vote in our local caucuses for their favored presidential candidate and those votes determined how how votes at the national convention will be cast. This year, for the VERY FIRST TIME, the GOP is doing the same thing, allowing Republican voters a say in how the GOP delegates will vote in Tampa. For the first time!
I am glad to see signs of democracy within the local GOP. But it has to be noted, the Lingle group is hostile to the growing internal democracy and has repeatedly cheated and bent rules to get their way. The 2008 was the most embarrassing– well, it WOULD have been embarrassing had the media been paying attention.
Perhaps this blog should ask Eric Ryan what he thinks.
and remember to print his quotes in 36 pt Bold Impact.
The Lingle camp pushes back against anyone who dares to resist as “attempting to split the party.” Apparently, she would prefer that it surrender to her en masse.
Charles mentions Dan Inouye.
Do local Democrats (including business leaders), have a game plan for Hawaii’s future when the “Big D” is no longer able to serve in Congress because of health and old age?
Incidentally, does a responsibility exist of trying to balance Inouye’s right to privacy with the public’s right to know if an elected official is well enough to continue serving?
I don’t think Patsy Mink’s illness was handled very well by the press nor do I want to see Dan Inouye suffering in Congress the way Strom Thurmond did during his last years.
Every Hawaii Republican should be eternally grateful. Linda Lingle built the Hawaii Republican Party into a powerful force during her chairmanship and her two terms as governor. The fact that we now have so many elected Republicans at all levels of government in Hawaii and an informed electorate which understands how badly Hawaii taxpayers were ripped off by 60 years of Democrat domination of the state legislature means that Lingle really made the transformation of Hawaii politics a top priority . . . always sacrificing her own interests for the good of the whole. As a most unselfish person, Lingle never used her influence to put her pawns in party leadership positions. Instead, she stepped back and innocently marveled at the will of the people unfolding before her eyes, so that she could take heed from the rank and file. Like Pat Saiki before her, Linda Lingle has left a legacy of more Republicans elected than when she took office. The only way we can repay her unselfish, bold leadership is to drop everything we are doing to help her become the next U.S. Senator. She may not want the post, but perhaps we can convince her to help lead us to even greater heights, by becoming our party’s own Dan Inouye who controls or at least greatly influences our party for decades to come. My fellow Republicans, just look at how Linda Lingle has devoted herself to creating a genuine two-party system. The least we can do is make electing Lingle our single focus for the next eight and a half months. Don’t worry, we have so many elected Republicans in Hawaii that we can afford to lose a few in order to put everything we’ve got into LINGLE, LINGLE, LINGLE, LINGLE, LINGLE.
The State rules say that rules challenges are to be answered within 5 days.
There are also questions about whether David Chang, Chair, should stand for a vote by the delegates at the 2012 State Convention since he is only ‘appointed’…still unanswered. This all brought to you by Terry Thomason, Dylan (let me spend HRP money) Nonaka and Chipchase whos claim to fame is the notorious and ruled-illegal Reapportionment decision. These are Republicans we can be proud of?
I doubt Lingle is leading the charge against Willes Lee but she has some ‘take no prisoners’ supporters who may think this will help her. Unfortunate alliance.
No, Lingle is not “leading the charge.” That’s what footsoldiers are for. She is watching from a safe distance. But she is issuing the decrees. She wants Ted Liu to get the position.