Hawaii Chief Election Officer Scott Nago ruled Monday that County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy is eligible to run for the state House District 2 seat vacated when Rep. Richard Onishi decided not to run for a seventh term.
Lee Loy, who has served on the council since 2016, is term limited, and can’t run again to represent Council District 3.
Nago sent a letter to the petitioners, who on June 10, filed an objection to Lee Loy’s candidacy, alleging that she still lived at a residence in the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands Panaewa Hawaiian House and Farm Lots, which is in House District 3 in Hilo.
“We have completed consideration of your objection and find that Ms. Lee Loy’s nomination paper was filed in conformity the law,” Nago wrote.
Three of the petitioners are Lee Loy’s sisters-in-law: Bridgit Bales, Maureen Namaka Rawlins and Hedwig Nakoolani Warrington, sisters of Ian Lee Loy, a retired Hawaii Police Department detective who in February filed for divorce from Sue Lee Loy. The others are Eva E. Naniole, Janice Pualani K. Kahoohanohano and Caroline R.P. “Pohai” Montague-Mullins.
The petitioners also challenged Sue Lee Loy’s voter registration for District 2. That issue is in the hands of Hawaii County Clerk Jon Henricks, who administers voter registration on the Big Island.
Henricks said Monday afternoon he hasn’t yet made a ruling on that issue.
“I’m reviewing (Sue Lee Loy’s) response and there may be follow-up actions, but the ruling will be issued as soon as possible,” he said.
The councilwoman’s response was to file a copy of her lease of a shared rental property in Hilo’s Waiakea Uka neighborhood signed in April with Day-Lum Rentals &Management Inc. in Hilo. The copy she sent to the Tribune-Herald had the address redacted but an attached letter from Nancy Cabral, Day-Lum president and principal broker, said Cabral “recently verified that the property is in Hawaii State House District 2.”
A signed declaration by Ian Lee Loy, who is the DHHL leaseholder for the Panaewa property, was also attached, stating he and Sue Lee Loy share legal guardianship for their 19-year-old special-needs son, Luke, who “requires constant supervision and full-time care.”
“I currently reside at another location for personal reasons,” Ian Lee Loy wrote. “I understand that Sue has another residence also. We both agree that address, 498 Auwae Road, Hilo, HI is best suited as the permanent residence for Luke where he can receive uninterrupted routine care and services that provide stability in his life.”
“We have to co-parent a special needs kid,” Sue Lee Loy told the Tribune-Herald on Monday. “And it looks different and it’s not traditional. But it’s what we have to do, and we’re doing our very best.”
Neither Ian nor Sue Lee Loy are legally allowed to be at the Auwae Road home at the same time as the ongoing divorce proceedings contain a mutual restraining order.
“Please note that Ms. Lee Loy has a significant privacy interest in regard to our consideration to your objection,” Nago’s letter to the petitioners stated. “Given this, we will not be entertaining any further questions regarding this matter.”
Lee Loy faces only one challenger for the House District 2 seat, Tanya Yamanaka Aynessazian, a fellow Democrat. Aynessazian, who listed a Haili Street address in Hilo on her filed nomination document, also pulled but didn’t file papers using a Pahoa address for the House District 3 seat occupied by incumbent Rep. Chris Todd.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.