Fueled by the 2016 Bernie Sanders movement, a new wave of leadership is taking over the Hawaii County Democratic Party.
Fueled by the 2016 Bernie Sanders movement, a new wave of leadership is taking over the Hawaii County Democratic Party.
The county party is planning its annual convention May 6 at the Keauu High School library. There are 13,283 active registered party members on Hawaii Island and 74,336 statewide.
The change starts at the top, with former Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille, a Sanders supporter, running unopposed for county chairwoman. Wille lost her county council reelection bid last year and is currently co-chairwoman of the state party legislative committee.
Wille said she wasn’t actively seeking the position, but agreed to serve after she was called up.
“There are more warm and fuzzy people than I am,” Wille said Monday. “I didn’t go fighting for this, but I accepted it and I’m delighted and happy to do it.”
Outgoing Chairman Phil Barnes characterized the position as “a full-time job.”
While some old party members had feared the political luster would wear off for the young Sanders supporters after their candidate lost, that’s not necessarily the case, Barnes said. He’s particularly pleased to have that energy in the party, he said.
“It looks like some of them will stay involved in any case,” Barnes said.
The Bernie wave moves down through the ranks, with Tonya Lee Coulter from South Kona unopposed for the West Hawaii vice chairmanship. Coulter was a state delegate for Sanders in 2016.
Raina Whiting, also a state delegate for Sanders in 2016, is running unopposed for county secretary. Richard Harris, running unopposed for assistant treasurer, was a Sanders campaign volunteer in Hawaii and New York.
Wille plans to harness all that new energy, as she lays out a plan to increase accountability and transparency in the local party.
“We have new people, young people. The Bernie folks may have been disillusioned,” Wille said. “Instead of looking at the national level and asking why it’s happening, I say we can have impact at the state level. We’re far more active than in the past.”
Three other officerships have more than one candidate.
Shannon Matson, Lon Putnam and Gerri Kahiliare on the ballot for East Hawaii vice chairmanship. Valerie Barnes and Amy Miwa are runing for treasurer and Maya Parish, Lei Kihoi, and Heather Kimball are running for assistant secretary.
The changing of the guard doesn’t reflect on the current leadership, but is a cyclical thing for the party, said longtime party official and state Central Committee member Brian De Lima.
“I’ve been a member of the party since I was 18,” De Lima said. “Sometimes you take a position of leadership, other times you step back, depending on what’s going on in your life.”
At the convention, in addition to elections, there will be a panel discussion from Hawaii County legislators about the results of the legislative session that will have just wrapped up. Federal, state and county elected officials have also been invited to speak.
State Party Chairman Tim Vandeveer is also scheduled to address the assembly. Information sessions will deal with climate change, health care, the present state of the sovereignty movement, homeless and elderly issues, how to influence legislative action at the state level and elimination of the Electoral College.
On the web: http://www.hawaiicountydemocrats.org/.
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.