Chad Blair: Can the Green Party make Hawaii greener?


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Money is, as they say, the breast milk of politics, but it’s remarkable how many – and how often – Hawaiian candidates are sucking in the 2022 election.

Josh Green is leading the Democratic herd after running nearly 20 fundraiser campaigns for his expected gubernatorial run, including four in the past 30 days.

Likely opponent Kirk Caldwell has held 10 – including four in December – while Vicky Cayetano has held a total of three in recent months.

Jill Tokuda hosted eight fundraising drives to apply for Lieutenant Governor, four of them in the past three weeks. Other Democrats and LG wannabes aren’t far behind: Sylvia Luke (seven fundraisers, four since December 2), Sherry Menor-McNamara (five), Ikaika Anderson (four), and Keith Amemiya and Ron Menor (one each, though Menor not yet officially announce his candidacy).

I’m not mentioning this to talk about the dominant Hawaiian Democratic Party or the minority Hawaiian Republican Party, but to shed some light on a third party in the islands that is also interested in greens – but not necessarily greenbacks.

The Green Party of Hawaii highlights four key platform positions in particular: ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, social and economic justice and nonviolence.

Founded in 1991 in the islands, the Greens believe they are the only political party committed to real change. Here’s what the website says about it:

“There is a connection between concern for the country and its people and democracy. Hawaii’s history reflects and exaggerates in many ways the global trend of the dwindling power of democratic institutions and environmental degradation. The corruption and injustice of the “free trade policy” and the continued privatization of our common heritage have taken our toll on our country and our democracy. “

“Our candidates follow these values,” says Ramona Hussey, the party’s secretary. (They don’t use the term secretary, she explains, saying that it was considered sexist in the 1980s). “For me, grassroots democracy is really about the people because we don’t elect representatives just to take care of everyone. I think we choose them to represent ourselves and our interests. “

Simple area codes

I spoke to Hussey after receiving an email from her this week asking the media to spread the word that the Greens are inviting activists to run as candidates in 2022.

“Our full electoral status means that green candidates can easily advance to parliamentary elections,” the email said. (More on that in a moment.)

When was the last time you heard of a political party searching for recruits via press release?

Sylvia Litchfield and Ramona Hussey on a Monday Zoom call with the author.
Sylvia Litchfield (top left) and Ramona Hussey (bottom center) on a Zoom call with the author on Monday.

I spoke on a Zoom call this week with Hussey, a Kailua attorney and retired administrator of the UH William S. Richardson School of Law, along with Sylvia Litchfield, the party’s membership chair and former co-chair.

“I’m also on the Media Committee and the Candidates Committee,” said Litchfield, a retired nurse in Makawao.

Litchfield said her party issued the press release to let as many people in Hawaii as possible know that “there is another way to run as a progressive that doesn’t involve running against a Democratic incumbent in a primary.”

By that, she means that a Green candidate who makes the first election is likely to advance to the general election to face the Democrat and a GOP candidate.

Compare this to nonpartisan candidates for the Hawaiian Legislature, who must get 10% of the total vote to move from the primary to general, or get a vote equal to or greater than the lowest vote cast by the partisan candidates ( e.g. Democrats, Republicans, Greens, Liberals).

“We’re providing a way to sell these corporate-bought established businesses,” she explains. “Getting big money out of politics is a worthwhile goal.”

The Green Party does not accept corporate donations, and candidates usually receive publicly voted campaign funds, a program administered by the Hawaii State Campaign Spending Commission.

Litchfield said in a follow-up email that the Green candidates here on the ground are not seen as “the worrying” spoiler effect “with many races missing Republican candidates up again. (Or against weak Republican candidates.) So in most cases there is no risk of voting green, which is another reason our green candidates performed well. “

While there were no green candidates for state office in the 2020 vote, several ran for office in Maui County in 2018 and performed respectably.

Mish Shishido received 30% of the vote against incumbent Democratic Senator Roz Baker, who won 61%. Nick Nikhilananda had 26% of the vote when he lost to State Representative Lynn DeCoite who received 66%. And Jen Mather lost 56% to 17% to Rep. Angus McKelvey. Republican Chayne Marten got 20% in this race.

Unlike the Three Greens, the Democratic incumbents received tens of thousands of dollars from Altria Client Services (the tobacco industry), Anheuser-Busch, Pfizer, Allstate Insurance, Hawaii Dental PAC, Maui Hotel & Lodging Association PAC, United Public Workers PAC, the Outrigger Hotels Hawaii PAC, the Hawaii Association of Realtors, and the Cattlemen Action Legislative Fund, to name a few.

Is it going green?

While the Greens largely failed to vote for candidates for office in the Islands – a notable exception is in Hawaii County, where several Greens were on county council in the 1990s before it went bipartisan – they have performed better than in many other states.

In 1992, Green candidate Linda Martin shocked many people when she received almost 14% of the vote against US Senator Dan Inouye. The legendary incumbent easily won 54% of the vote, but it was a scandalous election with Republican Rick Reed 25% and Liberal Richard Rowland 2%.

Greens also put up candidates for the Federal Office, including the President. People are still arguing whether Ralph Nader cost Al Gore the 2000 election to George W. Bush.

The origins of the Green Party go back to the founding of green parties in Germany, Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand. In 1984, Maine formed the first state-level Green Party in the United States.

Colin Moore, director of the UH Public Policy Center, said it was “almost impossible for anyone else to have much success in America.”

“Teddy Roosevelt and the Bull Moose Party were most successful in the early 20th century,” he said.

“Getting big money out of politics is a worthwhile goal.” – Sylvia Litchfield

TR was, of course, a former Republican and President. Moore said he often asked his students which third party was most successful. Answer: The Republican Party, founded in 1850.

Even if they won, the Hawaiian Greens would likely be marginalized in a Democratic-controlled legislature, which has been the case for decades.

Where greens can have influence, attention needs to be drawn to political issues.

“Often there are third parties to point out party issues, and when candidates are successful, the two big parties take on those issues or even the candidates,” said Moore. “It enables you to use media coverage to raise awareness of the political issues that matter to you. Even if they don’t win elections, they influence politics. “

Ramona Hussey says: “Sometimes it’s more about the message than about winning or losing. Hopefully we want to win a lot of races and get a lot of greens in, but it’s about the message. “

If more Greens manage to get into office, this message might come: It’s time to cut back on fundraising.

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