By
Emmanuel Samonte Tipon
Contributor
HONOLULU, Hawaii—While most of the country is going Republican, Hawaii
remains true Blue Hawaii. Filipino Americans in Hawaii, all of them Democrats,
won 11 legislative seats in the November 4 general elections.
Complete
results may be found at http://hawaii.gov/elections/results/2014/general/files/histatewide.pdf
For
the state Senate the three winners are Lorraine Rodero Inouye (Big Island), Gil
S. Coloma Keith Agaran (Maui), and Brickwood Galuteria (Kakaako, McCully,
Waikiki).
For
the State House of Representatives the six winners are: Attorney Joy A. San
Buenaventura (Hawaiian Acres, Pahoa, Kalapana), Della Au Belatti (Moilili,
Makiki), Henry J.C. Aquino (Waipahu), Ty J.K. Cullen (Waipahu, Royal Kunia,
Makakilo), and Romy Cachola (Kalihi) who ran unopposed.
For
the Honolulu City and County Council the two winners are: re-electionist Ernie
Martin (Mililani, Haleiwa and Kahaluu) who is the current chairperson, and
newcomer Brandon Elefante (Aiea, Pearl City, Waipahu). There are now five
Filipino American members in the nine-member council including three incumbents
who were not up for reelection, namely, Joey Manahan, Kymberly Marcos Pine, and
Ron Menor.
Filipinos
constitute the biggest non-white ethnic group in Hawaii—about 275,000 out of a
population of 1.25 million. About 90 percent are Ilocanos. Ilocano is one of
the four official languages in Hawaii. There are about 60,000 Filipino voters.
Filipino vote decisive in
gubernatorial race
The Filipino vote was decisive in the Hawaii governor’s race which
was won by David Ige, a Democrat, who was a virtual unknown a year ago. His
margin of victory was about 45,000. The
Filipino (mostly Ilocano) vote for Ige was spearheaded by the Friends of
Bongbong Marcos who have a significant presence in every island and whose
grassroots operation proved effective. Members of the Iglesia ni Cristo also
voted for Ige. Ige’s Republican opponent was Duke Aiona, a well-known former
Lt. Governor under Governor Linda Lingle. Aiona is married to a Filipina from
Cebu. Most Visayans supported Aiona.
Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao aired radio commercials expressing support for
Aiona.
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