Television executive Rick Blangiardi surprised his staff and simultaneously shook up Oahu’s political community Thursday when he announced he is retiring from his job and intends to join the race for Honolulu mayor.
Blangiardi told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser that he expects to finish up as president and general manager of Hawaii News Now by the middle of the month and then make a formal announcement about his political plans in the ensuing weeks.
“I’ve always been a believer that you should leave on top, and while I leave Hawaii News Now in a great place … I still feel like I still have a lot in me to give,” Blangiardi said. “We’re not quite there yet … but I can tell you I am definitely doing this.”
Blangiardi, 73, has not previously run for political office, but has served on a number of community boards. Viewers of what’s generally regarded as the state’s largest TV news outlet are likely already familiar with Blangiardi because of his frequent on-air “Local Connection” commentaries on timely news issues including politics in the middle of newscasts.
Among his favorite topics is homelessness, the cost of living in Hawaii and government’s inability to tackle those issues successfully. Blangiardi said Thursday he’ll have more to say about the issues after he makes his announcement.
He would be entering what’s already a crowded field for mayor that could grow even longer in the coming months. Candidates already announced or holding fundraisers for the mayor’s office are former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, incumbent City Council members Ron Menor and Kymberly Pine, Honolulu businessman Keith Amemiya and former state Sen. John Carroll. Also considering the nonpartisan race are former Mayor Mufi Hannemann and former U.S. Rep. Charles Djou.
A term-limit law bars current Mayor Kirk Caldwell from running for a third, consecutive term when his current term ends at the end this year.
“The mayor of Honolulu has a lot of potential to make a difference,” Blangiardi said when asked why he’s looking at the mayor’s race.
That became clear to him last year when he sat for lunch with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Boston Mayor Marty Walsh during the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ gathering in Waikiki. “That kind of responsibility and this kind of leadership challenge — I’m drawn to it,” he said.
A native of Cambridge, Mass., Blangiardi came to Hawaii to play linebacker for the University of Hawaii football team. He stayed in Manoa as an assistant coach under Dave Holmes and Larry Price before entering the television news industry in 1977. After stints at both KGMB and KHNL — where he was instrumental in establishing a television sports package that brought millions in revenue for the UH sports program — he left in 1989 to work on the mainland, at one point becoming president of Telemundo Holdings Inc., among the country’s leading Hispanic television networks.
After Telemundo was sold in 2002, he “wanted to come home” and make a difference in the local television industry, Blangiardi said. He’s since worked at the executive level at KHON, KGMB and, following the latter’s merger in 2009 with KHNL, Hawaii News Now.
Blangiardi said he was intending to retire after overseeing the transition in ownership of Hawaii News Now, which is collectively made up of KGMB (CBS) KHNL (NBC) and K5. HNN parent company Raycom Media Co. was purchased by digital media and broadcasting company Gray TV in June 2018. The acquisition was completed in January 2019.
His decision to run may have moved up his deadline for retirement by a number of months, but the two decisions are being made independently of each other, he said.
Blangiardi is married to Karen Chang, executive board chairwoman of digital health company LIVMOR. She was appointed to the Honolulu Police Commission by Caldwell in November 2017.
Correction: Dave Holmes coached the University of Hawaii football team from 1968 to 1973. His first name was misidentified in an earlier version of this story.
