First-time political candidates Keith Amemiya and Rick Blangiardi reported the largest war chests for this year’s Honolulu mayor’s race, but former Mayor Mufi Hannemann, former U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and City Councilwoman Kym Pine also have raised significant amounts of funds for the hotly contested campaign.
Amemiya has spent more than anyone else both during the first half of 2020 and the overall campaign cycle, and is the only candidate to have both collected and spent more than $1 million so far.
In the race for Honolulu prosecuting attorney, former state judge and U.S. Attorney Steve Alm has outgained and outspent six other candidates, with private defense attorney and one-time Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Megan Kau’s campaign also showing a lot of activity. Acting Prosecuting Attorney Dwight Nadamoto’s campaign, however, has not gained much traction.
Those are the major takeaways from reports that political candidates filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission last week. The mandatory reports reflect campaign financing activity for the six-month period from Jan. 1 to June 30. The election cycle began Jan. 1, 2016, or whenever candidates first received or spent money on this current campaign.
The top five candidates for mayor can all find positive things about their own campaigns to highlight as the primary election draws near.
Former television executive Blangiardi, who began his campaign in February, is reporting $703,609 in total receipts. That’s more than anyone in the mayor’s race has amassed during the six-month period.
The amount includes a $250,000 loan he made to his campaign and an additional $15,561 in expenditures that he’s paid for. Take away those personal contributions and Blangiardi has collected $438,048 from outside parties during the first half of 2020. That’s the second highest raised from outside parties among the mayoral candidates for the reporting period, and the third highest for the entire cycle.
Amemiya, the businessman and one-time executive director of state high school athletics, is reporting $487,482 in total receipts for the first half of 2020, second only to Blangiardi in that category. He loaned himself $18,712 during this period.
Take away that loan and Amemiya has collected $468,770 from outside parties during the reporting period, highest among the candidates.
Amemiya reported that since he launched his campaign last summer, his campaign has collected $1,427,705 (including $200,000 he loaned his campaign last year) and spent $1,047,718. His campaign is the first — and so far only — group to both raise and spend more than $1 million on the 2020 mayor’s race.
Hannemann, president and chief executive officer of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association, did not announce publicly his intention to run for mayor until just days before the June 2 deadline to formally file nomination papers. Despite the late entry, his campaign has amassed $438,574, third highest in collections during the six-month reporting period.
The $455,704 the Hannemann campaign has raised for the entire campaign cycle ranks last among the top five candidates.
Pine, who announced at the end of 2017 that she planned to run for mayor this year, has collected $756,170 during the overall election cycle, which ranks second to Amemiya in that category. But during the latest six-month period, Pine’s campaign has raised $114,526, the least of the five major candidates.
Hanabusa’s campaign has raised $278,049 during the first six months of 2020, fourth among mayoral candidates. For the cycle, the campaign has collected $539,325, also fourth among the candidates.
On the expenditure side of the ledger, the Amemiya campaign has spent $819,141 during the six-month reporting period, more than any other Honolulu mayoral candidate. For the entire election cycle, he’s spent $1,047,718, the most among the candidates.
Blangiardi, the other major candidate besides Amemiya making his first run for elective office, has spent $446,406 since his campaign began. That’s second highest in the reporting period and third highest for the entire cycle.
Pine’s campaign reported spending $330,602 during the reporting period, third highest, and $490,702 for the entire cycle, which is second highest among the candidates.
Hanabusa has spent $299,085 during the reporting period, which ranks fourth. For the entire cycle, she has spent $388,255, also fourth among mayoral candidates. Hanabusa announced her bid for mayor at the end of February.
The Hannemann campaign spent $195,825 for the reporting period and $209,003 for the overall period, both fifth among mayoral candidates.
The prosecuting attorney’s race shows Alm ahead in terms of money raised and spent, with Kau a distant second. Most surprisingly, Deputy Public Defender Jacquie Esser is third in money raised and spent, far ahead of Nadamoto, who’s been acting prosecuting attorney since Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kaneshiro went on paid leave in March 2019.
Alm has collected $221,256 for the election cycle, $118,431 of that during the six-month reporting period.
Kau’s campaign reported $136,883 collected for the cycle, the second highest. But it reported only $5,100 in raised during the reporting period, fourth among the campaigns in the race.
Esser has collected $77,846 for the election cycle, $58,821 during the reporting period.
R.J. Brown, a private attorney and one-time deputy prosecuting attorney, reported raising $57,232 for the election cycle, but only $26 in the six months of the reporting period.
Nadamoto reported $24,196 in receipts for the election cycle, fifth among the candidates. In the six-month reporting period, however, he’s raised $11,200, third among the candidates.
Alm’s campaign has spent $181,860 for the election cycle and $137,461 for the reporting period. Kau has spent $63,155 in total, which ranks second among candidates, for the cycle, but only $11,862 during the reporting period, which ranks fourth.
Brown has spent $46,992 for the election cycle, $15,407 during the reporting period. Nadamoto has spent $10,338 for the election cycle, but only $1,163 during the reporting period.
Candidates next are required to submit campaign financing reports on July 29, showing activity between July 1 and July 24.
The primary election is Aug. 8. But in the first-ever “vote by mail” election, all registered voters are expected to receive their ballots at their addresses around July 21.
In Honolulu’s nonpartisan voting process, a first-place finisher who receives more than half of the votes cast in the primary would win outright. Otherwise, the top two candidates in a race go head to head in the Nov. 3 general election.
STUMPING FOR MAYOR
Revenue reported by mayoral candidates from Jan. 1 to June 30:
Rick Blangiardi
$703,609*
Keith Amemiya
$487,482**
Mufi Hannemann
$438,574
Colleen Hanabusa
$278,049
Kym Pine
$114,526
* Includes $250,000 loan to self and $15,561 in additional personal expenditures ($438,048 without loan and expenditures)
** Includes $18,712 in loans to self ($468,770 without loans)
