Gov. Neil Abercrombie, outlining themes for his re-election campaign next year, said Sunday that the "hard choices" he has made since taking office have helped make Hawaii’s state government among the most financially stable in the nation.
At a brunch for campaign supporters under white tents in Kakaako, the governor cited the work of his administration and the Legislature to address unfunded liability in the public-worker pension and health care funds. His administration also negotiated pay cuts with public workers, set to expire at the end of June, that helped steer the state away from deficit.
Abercrombie, who is facing a potential primary challenge from U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii, said the state now has the opportunity to invest in early childhood education, energy and other initiatives that are part of his "New Day" agenda.
"But we have the opportunity now, as a result of some of those hard choices that had to be made, some of those tough decisions that we had to take, some of the sacrifices that people had to make, to bring our state out of chaos — fiscal chaos and chaos in a sense of direction and confidence," he said.
Abercrombie will campaign for another four-year term on the strength of the state’s improved financial outlook, made possible mostly from the rebound in tourism since the recession, but also from rosier forecasts in the construction and housing sectors.
The governor has yet to achieve the major policy objectives in his "New Day" plan, so his re-election theme — like his dream of a third city in Kakaako — will be about his potential to deliver given a stronger economy.
"We’re going to develop a third city here in Kakaako. We’re going to have workforce housing. We’re going to have early childhood education," he told supporters. "We’re going to emphasize living in a community in a way that does not isolate people from one another. We’re going to have a respect for people as they end their years and they have made their contributions, putting them together with a sense of community and ohana that, I’m sorry to say, in some instances — especially in recent times — has been honored only rhetorically."
Abercrombie declined to discuss Hanabusa, who is thinking about a primary campaign against him or U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. The governor told reporters that he would let his experience, record and daily resolve "to try and do the right thing, to let that speak for itself."
Abercrombie’s campaign advisers have accelerated their preparations, however. The governor’s campaign team held a statewide planning meeting Saturday to go over organization, fundraising, policy and outreach.
"We’re taking no risks. We have to really ramp up," said William Kaneko, Abercrombie’s campaign manager. "I think there’s something to say about being a sitting governor and the power of incumbency. And we are utilizing the infrastructure that we have statewide."
Abercrombie’s job approval ratings have hovered under 50 percent, which is considered a danger sign for incumbents, but he will have early fundraising, organization and history at his back. Only one governor since statehood — William Quinn, a Republican, in 1962 — has not won a second term.
Abercrombie, 74, is also among the state’s best retail politicians, with an energy that some of his rivals have mistakenly underestimated as bluster.
"I didn’t have a chance to get elected when I first ran," the governor told supporters Sunday, recalling his first successful campaign as a young liberal for the state House in 1974. "No chance!"
"I remember knocking on that last door, when I was up there in Manoa Valley. And it was dark and it was past dinnertime, and I was making that last shot up there at the top of Manoa Valley.
"And I remember the lady answered the door. And the little kids were behind her. And I remember the guy behind her saying, ‘Who’s that?’ And she said, ‘It’s Abercrombie.’ He said, ‘Again?’ And then he said, ‘No chance.’
"I saw the lady in the Safeway afterwards. She said, ‘You remember me?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I do, as a matter of fact.’ She was one of the last people I spoke to before the election. She said, ‘You remember my husband?’
"‘He said you had no chance, but I voted for you.’"
