New campaign spending reports show fundraising gaps across key Hawaii races

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Gov. Josh Green has raised roughly 10 times more money than his most likely Republican opponent, and a Maui mayoral challenger has outraised the incumbent, according to the latest campaign spending reports available Friday.

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HNN political analyst Colin Moore reviewed the filings ahead of a primary election that is now just weeks away.

Governor’s race

Green has collected $3.5 million since his 2022 victory and still has $2 million in cash on hand. His only viable opponent, Republican Gary Cordery, raised just over $300,000 — and has already spent all of it, reporting $14,000 in debt.

“Hawaii is a dominant Democratic state and most of the wealthy interests support Democrats,” Moore said. “It’s also true that Gov. Green tends to be a particularly strong fundraiser.”

Although its unusual to see local Republicans rally around a single candidate for the primary, Moore said Cordery’s depleted war chest will limit his ability to compete in the general election.

“He won’t have much to spend where it really counts in the general,” Moore said.

Lieutenant governor’s race

Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami leads the closely watched lieutenant governor’s race, having raised $578,000 with $128,000 still in cash. Late entrant Rep. Della Belatti and attorney John Choi lag behind in donations.

On the Republican side, Hawaiian cultural practitioner Daniel Anthony is the strongest fundraiser.

Belatti said more money is on the way, but Moore said she may be running out of time to catch up.

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“Really to win a race like that, there’s very little time left. You need some big media ad buys and that takes money,” Moore said.

Maui mayor’s race

The biggest surprise in the reports comes from Maui, where incumbent Mayor Richard Bissen — who oversaw the response to the Maui wildfires and a contentious fight over short-term vacation rentals — is being outraised by veteran council woman Yuki Lei Sugimura.

Bissen has raised $292,000. Sugimura has raised more than $40,000 beyond that and holds a cash-on-hand advantage more than two and a half times greater than Bissen’s heading into a race that runs through the November general election.

“That’s an extremely unusual set of circumstances,” Moore said. “I would say things are looking extremely good for her candidacy.”

Kauai mayor’s race

The Kauai mayoral race is also competitive. Council chair Mel Rapozo and former mayor Bernard Carvalho lead in fundraising among three council members in the race.

Council member Felicia Cowden trails significantly in dollars raised, though Moore cautioned against counting her out.

“Money is just not as crucial in Kauai as it is in a statewide race or on Oahu,” Moore said.

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