For state Sen. David Ige, his Democratic primary challenge to Gov. Neil Abercrombie is still a soft sell.
At his first campaign rally Saturday at Pearl City Highlands Elementary School, an understated affair with plate lunches and a live band, the senator stressed his deep roots in the community, the values he learned from his parents and the hopes he and his wife have for their three children. He did not mention Abercrombie at all, leaving listeners to read between the lines for how he would be a different chief executive.
Ige said education, the economy and the environment would be the issues of his campaign, but he did not draw any policy contrasts with Abercrombie. Instead, the early message from the senator and his allies is that he would be a sensible, trusted and deliberative alternative to the often volcanic governor.
"I decided to run for governor because I believe that I can make a difference," Ige (D, Pearl Harbor-Pearl City-Aiea) told the rally, made up primarily of friends, family and older Japanese-American voters who have supported him for decades. "I have 34 years in the private sector. I know what it’s like to have a job and make a living. I know what it’s like to have mortgage payments and pay tuition, to be able to put my kids through school, to give them the future and the opportunities that I want for them.
"I want them to have the opportunity to choose to live and work in Hawaii, to be able to have the jobs, to be able to look forward to a future in Hawaii, much like the opportunities that I had growing up here in Hawaii.
"I’m running for governor because I believe that I can bring a different kind of leadership," he said, vowing to be an open and respectful leader. "I know I don’t have all the answers. I really need all of you."
Ige’s brand is quiet competence — an engineer by trade who leads the Senate Ways and Means Committee. While the senator acknowledges that he will soon have to show clear policy differences with Abercrombie, his introduction to voters is more personal.
On Saturday, he spoke of growing up in Pearl City as the fifth of six brothers, early-morning clam digs in Kaneohe Bay with his late father, Tokio — a 100th Infantry Battalion veteran — and the desire he and his wife, Dawn, have for a local economy that can provide jobs for their college-age children. He described his mother, Tsurue, who was in the audience along with three of his brothers, as his biggest supporter.
The rally attracted several of Ige’s political colleagues: Senate President Donna Mercado Kim, Sen. Michelle Kidani, Rep. Gregg Takayama and Honolulu City Councilman Breene Harimoto, who is interested in Ige’s Senate seat.
Donn Ariyoshi, the son of former Gov. George Ariyoshi, who had appointed Ige to fill a state House vacancy in 1985, hosted the event. Millie Akaka, the wife of former U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, also attended.
"I know that he works very hard. He understands the issues," said Kidani (D, Mililani-Waikele-Kunia), the vice chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. "He had an opportunity to do something else in the Senate, but he chose not to," she said, referring to potentially seeking the Senate presidency, "because he thought at the time he needed to stay and finish up what was a very important budget.
"We had come through a few years of a bad economy. And as it started to turn upwards, it actually became more difficult to handle," she said of the competition for state spending. "He recognized that and decided that, although there may have been a rosier field somewhere else for him, he stayed where he was and saw it through on behalf of the people of Hawaii.
"And I really admire that about him."
Takayama (D, Pearl City-Waimalu-Pacific Palisades) said Ige takes a reasonable approach to legislation and has won respect from his colleagues for the way he has handled the state budget. He said Ige has the challenge of building name recognition with voters, particularly on the neighbor islands.
"But the good news is it’s fairly early," he said.
Ige acknowledged that he is up against history.
"We know that it will be a tough campaign. No governor has ever lost re-election," he told the rally. "Except for 2014."
