They say money can’t buy you love, but it can sure help with votes. At the very least, it buys ads and air time to get a politician’s name out.

All that makes Mayor Kirk Caldwell look pretty formidable, with his campaign coffer currently at $1.6 million. Two of his potential challengers in this fall’s election, City Council Chairman Ernie Martin and former Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona, have just $492,510 and $18,872, respectively.

Still, political conventional wisdom didn’t hold in the 2014 election, when then-Sen. David Ige upset incumbent Gov. Neil Abercombie in a shocker. Further, Ige did it by raising $2.4 million for his campaign overall and left $435,029 unspent; Abercrombie, meanwhile, spent $5.7 million and ended with a $139,612 deficit.

Living in luxury, Lanai style

We haven’t seen much of Larry Ellison since he bought 98 percent of Lanai in 2012. But there he was on Monday, with aloha shirt and maile lei, opening the refurbished Four Seasons Resort Lanai.

Ellison, a billionaire, should feel right at home in the former Manele Bay Hotel, where rooms go for a minimum of $1,075 a night. For that you get everything from poolside waterfalls to one of Nobu Matsuhisa’s signature restaurants.

But the budget-minded can take heart: For a limited time, the fourth night is free.