The Democratic primary for state Senate District 1 has two sitting senators facing off against each other and a third candidate who’s a former high-level appointed government executive and union chief.
Redistricting moved Sen. Lorraine Inouye, the chamber’s majority whip and Water and Land chairwoman out of District 4 and into District 1, where the incumbent, Sen. Laura Acasio, was appointed by Gov. David Ige in January 2021 to assume the seat vacated when U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele ran for Congress.
Also seeking the Hilo Senate seat is Wil Okabe, who was county managing director for former Mayor Harry Kim, a former East Hawaii liaison for Ige and a longtime teacher, coach and former president of the Hawaii State Teachers Association.
Inouye, 82, lives in Paukaa, just north of Hilo town, and has represented the sprawling District 4, which stretches along the coast from parts of Hilo, to Waimea, Waikoloa and Hawi for the past eight years. She also represented District 1 from 1998-2008 and was Hawaii County mayor from 1990-92, served on the county council and planning commission. She’s a former hotelier and co-owns Floral Resources Hawaii and Aloha Blooms with her husband, Vernon.
In addition to Water and Land, Inouye is vice chair of the Transportation Committee and sits on the Ways and Means Committee.
“As we hear from people they feel like crime is really impacting them, not only here on the island, but throughout the state,” Inouye said. “Housing is another issue, and we addressed that this past year by providing revenues for development of affordable rentals.
“And there’s a clear reminder that there is still a need for jobs, on the east side in particular. I see a lot of people at Hilo airport, especially construction workers, going to Honolulu to work.”
Among her accomplishments, Inouye touts infrastructure improvements to the Big Island and the state, especially with highways, ports and airports, and said her continued presence is needed for continuity as those projects progress.
Inouye also supports development of the next-generation Thirty Meter Telescope on Maunakea, which has proven controversial among some in the community.
“I have not changed,” she said. “I see the opportunities TMT brings into the community — which they already have done, giving scholarships for students, as well as contributions to our schools, in particular, financial contributions to our charter schools.”
Inouye has raised $206,686.30 in contributions and has spent $148,449.64. She had more than $90,000 cash remaining as of last week.
Large contributors include: Ormat Nevada, parent company of Puna Geothermal Venture, $3,000; Paige Horn, a Waimea rancher, $2,000; lobbyist Robert Toyofuku of BT Consulting, $1,000; Hawaii Realtors PAC, $1,000; and Honolulu attorney Paul Alston, $1,000.
Endorsements Inouye has received include: State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers; Hawaii Government Employees Organization; International Longshore and Warehouse Union; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Hawaii Firefighters Association; Laborers International of North America, Local 368; Operating Engineers Local 3; Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters; and Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 675.
Acasio, 46, was born in Los Angeles, but has lived in Hawaii for 25 years. The Hilo resident is an environmentalist, community organizer and former teacher and long-term substitute teacher, doula and former Surfrider Foundation board member. She’s also served on the State Central Committee for the Hawaii Democratic Party.
“I have a deep belief in civic engagement, especially community-based civic leadership and I love to be of service to my community,” Acasio said.
Acasio, who sits on the Agriculture and Environment, Hawaiian Affairs, Human Services and Judiciary committees, said her priorities include “economic revitalization, adjusting and ending homelessness in our community, which means providing services and housing and making sure we are addressing issues affecting those who are at risk of becoming homeless.”
“Our businesses are also affected by those who are sleeping on the street, as well, so it’s an humanitarian issue. But on a larger scale, it’s what’s best for the people in our community and our businesses,” she said. “In the same vein, we also need to make sure we have improved mental health services and drug abuse treatment facilities and improved and equal access to those services.”
Acasio added that rates of youth suicide and youth sex trafficking in the community “are outrageous, and we need to address those proactively.”
She also highlighted a need to become more agriculturally self-sufficient, as estimates are that 85-90% of the state’s food is produced elsewhere.
In her first term in office, an issue Acasio championed was menstrual equity and period poverty, as a 2021 survey found 42% of respondents missed class or left school because they didn’t have access to menstrual products.
Senate Bill 2821 became law, mandating the Department of Education provide period products in schools free of charge to students, but funding for the measure, which was estimated to cost DOE about a million a year, was left out.
“We absolutely need funding for schools and educators to provide a well-rounded education setting,” said Acasio, who expressed concern about burdening the DOE with unfunded mandates.
Acasio said she’s “not in support of TMT.”
“Right now, we have a situation where TMT would have to reapply for the (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit and go through various scoping for the (Environmental Impact Statement) for National Science Foundation funding,” she said. “I’m definitely in support of astronomy as it is on the mountain. I’m not in support of TMT.”
Acasio’s campaign has raised $35,234.97 in contributions and spent $9,943.06. That would be a fairly sizable war chest in some campaigns, but places her a distant second in this race, money-wise.
She has three contributors who donated the maximum $4,000 to her campaign: the pro-choice Patsy Mink PAC; Edward Bohlen, a former state deputy attorney general; and business owner, attorney and former Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto. She also has endorsements from HULI PAC, which contributed $1,000, HSTA and Unite Here Local 5.
“I am energized and super excited about this role and the potential. We have a lot of collaborative projects with the county, other organizations and stakeholders within our community. And I think I am a great collaborator,” Acasio said.
Okabe, 70, has never held elected public office, although he’s well-known in government circles and the former HSTA president.
The Hilo resident is running what he calls a grassroots campaign and has loaned himself $2,000.
“I just bought a few yard signs,” Okabe said. “You may have noticed I don’t have any website or any flyers, anything like that.”
His only contribution was $500 received from his treasurer, Michael Hodson, which Okabe said he plans to return.
Asked about the Thirty Meter Telescope, Okabe said he supports the state Supreme Court’s 2018 decision allowing TMT construction to go ahead “because we live in a democracy.”
“However, we need to continue to negotiate and mitigate with the host culture of the Hawaiian people,” Okabe said. “And we need to work for a win-win solution as we move forward to address Constitutional law regarding ceded lands.”
Okabe said leaders are responsible for both their actions and their inactions.
“That’s what leaders do when you’re faced with adversity,” he said. “You know, when Harry Kim had his third heart attack when I was managing director, it challenged me personally to really look at the county as a whole.”
He recalled that as HSTA president, teachers “had to turn down a contract that (then) Gov. (Neil) Abercrombie imposed on us in our boxes.”
“Prior to that, it was ‘Furlough Friday,’asking teachers and state employees to take a pay cut,” Okabe said.
“All those things helped me to understand what my path was in serving the community, especially here on the Big Island.”
Okabe said the time is right to “utilize state lands for affordable housing for middle-income and low-income” families and individuals.
He added that the COVID pandemic showed how fragile Hawaii’s health care system is, especially on Hawaii Island.
Okabe said the doctors in East Hawaii are mostly in their “late 60s, 70s and 80s.”
“And we had to bring in nurses from the mainland to help with the COVID situation,” he said.
According to Okabe, he’s the candidate best positioned to lead during adversity because of his experience as Kim’s managing director during the 2018 lower East Rift Zone eruption of Kilauea volcano and the floods resulting from the aftermath of Hurricane Lane, as well as being acting mayor during Kim’s third heart attack.
“I think those things actually prepared me to lead, but it is basically a sacrifice,” he said. “As a state retiree, I make more money than I would serving in office. I would have to forego my pension to serve in office, because you can’t collect a pension and a paycheck.
“So for me, it’s not about money. It’s about service to the community. You have to have the passion to help people and, for me, that’s the bottom line.”
The candidate receiving the most votes in the Democratic primary will face Republican Helen C. Tupai — who’s running unopposed in the GOP primary — on Nov. 8.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.