Without having been elected, 51-year-old Doug Chin has written a strong political resume. He has been Honolulu managing director under former Mayor Peter Carlisle, state attorney general appointed by Gov. David Ige and now is lieutenant governor.

Chin, however, doesn’t want any of that; he wants to be in Congress representing Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District. U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa holds the position now, but she is running for governor.

Hanabusa was skeptical that Chin could remain AG while running for her current position.

“I think that given the nature of what he is running for, and as somebody who knows what it takes to run for Congress, I think he should resign,” Hanabusa said in January. Ige came out with a wavering response, saying: “I believe Doug will do the right thing and step down if that’s in the best interest of the people of Hawaii.”

Chin later said he would step down, but then wound up as LG to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Shan Tsutsui.

Chin has been something of the tip of the legal spear in the attempt by states to block President Donald Trump’s efforts to, initially, halt immigration from Muslim countries.

Chin has taken Trump to court several times, successfully postponing several hastily conceived GOP immigration schemes.

Chin said his parents’ own immigrant status coming to the U.S. made him a strong opponent of Trump.

If that put Chin right at the top of Hawaii’s liberal hierarchy — just wait a minute, there is a catch. Chin belongs to the nondenominational Oahu Church of Christ, part of a coalition of more than 100 Hawaii churches that opposed the 2013 gay marriage bill that passed in a special legislative session.

Chin, according to one of his opponents in the Democratic congressional primary, state Rep, Kaniela Ing, “has preached against LGBTQ rights. … He preached anti-gay, anti-woman sermons for decades, and in 2013 the church that he helped lead and found opposed marriage equality.”

Last week when a legislative bill came up that would forbid therapists from offering “conversion therapy” to gay youth to change their sexual orientation, Chin was there as LG speaking in favor of the bill.

Chin obviously knew that his position on gay marriage could be the deciding factor in the race that, besides liberal progressive Ing, includes former state Senate President Sen. Donna Mercado Kim, who has not supported gay marriage.

Chin’s support of the bill was “based upon my firm belief that no child in Hawaii should ever be made to feel there is something ‘wrong’ with them based on who they love or how they identify.”

In comments later, Ing said Chin has gone through some political conversion therapy of his own.

“To see my conservative opponent finally just all of a sudden change his worldview after preaching anti-gay, anti-woman sermons for so many decades, it just seems disingenuous and opportunistic now that he’s running for Congress,” Ing said.

Michael Golojuch, chairman of the Hawaii Democratic Party’s LGBT Caucus, said he has been advocating for gay rights for decades and has developed “a pretty good BS detector and I know when politicians are feeding me a line.”

Although the caucus has not yet made an endorsement, Golojuch has met with Chin and said he has a record of support for gay rights.

“I wish that his church was in support of gay rights, but again it is his church and his religion; and he has a track record as AG to actually go out of his way to support LBGTQ issues. He led the coalition of states in support of the nondiscrimination policy of Colorado (gay marriage case now before the Supreme Court). He didn’t have to do that to lead that battle. He has supported transgender members of the military, he took that one and he didn’t have to,” Golojuch said.

Even as Honolulu managing director, Chin signed the proclamation authorizing Pride Week, Golojuch added.

That kind of support is going to make it difficult to put Chin into some anti-gay box, and that strengthens his campaign for Congress.

Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays. Reach him at 808onpolitics@gmail.com.