Mainland political action groups that had been largely quiet in Hawaii since the August primary have this month begun spending in the race for the 1st Congressional District that pits former Republican congressman Charles Djou against veteran Democratic state Rep. Mark Takai.
On Friday the American Action Network was among two prominent conservative groups to announce a joint $3 million investment in seven House races, including Hawaii, as Republicans aim to grow the GOP majority in the House.
According to a story on the Washington, D.C.-based site Politico, the push comes as Democrats have pulled resources from states they had hoped to flip in 2014 to instead prop up besieged incumbents elsewhere. The Wall Street Journal reported that American Action Network, which is chaired by former GOP U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, is planning to spend $300,000 on the Hawaii race.
Earlier this month VoteVets.org, a group that works to help get veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan elected to Congress, spent $182,000 on TV ads for Takai. VoteVets previously ran $175,000 in ads for Takai in the crowded Democratic primary.
Takai already has been airing ads partly paid for by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The move by the American Action Network would be the first outside money to come in on Djou’s behalf. Djou previously had denounced the influence of mainland third-party money in Hawaii and on Friday did not back down from the assertion.
"My position is unchanged," Djou said in an email message. "These third-party mainland ads are unhealthy for our local democracy. I am beholden to no one.
"My position doesn’t change — AAN coming in or not."
He withheld further comment, noting that mainland groups frequently place a reservation for tactical purposes, only to shift it later.
Under state law, such third-party money is classified as an independent expenditure. The so-called super PACs (political action committees) are allowed to spend an unlimited amount in independent expenditures to advocate election or defeat "of a clearly identified candidate" as long as there are no direct candidate contributions and there is no coordination between the super PAC and any candidate or party.
Takai’s campaign, which has attempted to portray Djou as a party-line Republican whose values are not in line with traditionally Democratic Hawaii, said the ads represented more of the same.
"The Charles Djou campaign is receiving outside money from a Republican conservative group that has supported cuts to Social Security, continued tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations and ending the Medicare guarantee," Takai campaign spokesman Alex Hetherington said in an email. "It is clear this mainland Republican group supports Djou because of his alignment with them on these issues. We do not feel that these are the values shared by our local residents."
Takai also has benefited from funds transferred to his campaign from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, or DCCC, which works to get Democrats elected to Congress.
The amount of the transfer was not immediately known, but ads that began airing this week carry text stating they are "paid for by Mark Takai for Congress and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee."
After the VoteVets ads were announced, Djou had called the outside money "unhealthy."
"I think these mainland special-interest groups trying to insert themselves into local Hawaii elections is unhealthy," he said. "Whether it is VoteVets or any of these other mainland organizations with dark money — it’s bad for our democracy and it’s bad for our community."
