Hawaii Fil-Ams win 11 legislative seats

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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