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Mufi Hannemann must resign as Honolulu mayor by July 20 if he wants to run for governor. Neil Abercrombie did not have to resign from Congress to run for governor but did anyway. Colleen Hanabusa does not have to resign from the state Senate to run for Congress. And James “Duke” Aiona does not have to resign as lieutenant governor to run for governor.

Confused?

Blame it on Frank Fasi. The former Honolulu mayor challenged Gov. George Ariyoshi in Democratic primaries in 1974 and 1978.

Fed up with the ongoing political feud between the mayor and the governor, a “resign to run” amendment was drafted at Hawaii’s Constitutional Convention of 1978 and ratified by state voters in the November election.

“Con Con” members argued that elected officials have a responsibility to remain in office until the end of their terms and not use the office as a convenient stepping stone for higher positions. The members were also concerned about the costs of holding elections to fill the remainder of vacated terms.

of the Hawaii Constitution reads as follows: “Any elected public officer shall resign from that office before being eligible as a candidate for another public office, if the term of the office sought begins before the end of the term of the office held.”

Hawaii Attorney General opinions later determined that “another public office” refers to elective, not appointive, public office; that members of neighborhood boards are not public officers; and that office-holders are not required to resign “if their successors would be elected at same election in which officeholders are candidates for other offices.”

In 1986, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled in that the resign-to-run law only applied to office holders who intend to be a candidate for another state or county office, but not to office holders who want to run for federal office. An attorney general opinion that same year said those state or county office holders had to resign no later than when nomination papers for the state office are filed. (This year the deadline is July 20.)

But there still remained questions about when a candidate is actually running for office. In 2002 the Hawaii Supreme Court that a candidate runs when he or she files nomination papers.

The high court’s ruling was in response to a 1st Circuit Court case in 2002 involving Jeremy Harris, then Honolulu mayor. The lower court had that Harris was effectively running for governor when he filed a gubernatorial campaign spending organizational report with the state in 2001.

Harris eventually decided not to run for governor in 2002, as had been expected, saying he believed he could not prevail against Republican candidate Linda Lingle.

Here’s how the State Elections Office explains candidate resignation requirements:

• No resignation is required for a federal office holder seeking a federal, state or county seat.

• No resignation is required for a state office holder seeking a federal office.

• No resignation is required for a county office holder seeking a federal office.

• A state office holder seeking a state or county office must resign “only if the office currently held is not scheduled for election at the same election in which the person is a candidate for another office.”

A county office holder seeking a state or county office must resign “only if the office currently held is not scheduled for election at the same election in which the person is a candidate for another office.”

From Fasi To Hannemann

Fasi, by the way, ran against Ariyoshi a third time, in 1982. But Fasi, who ran as a third party “Independent Democrat” in that year’s general election, was out of office at the time.

Fasi was elected mayor again two years later. When he ran a fourth and final time for governor — as a third party “Best” candidate in 1994 — he resigned as mayor and was succeeded by Harris, then Fasi’s managing director.

Ironically, Fasi’s last political race — a 2004 nonpartisan contest for Honolulu mayor — was won by Hannemann.

Abercrombie, meanwhile, has grumbled that Hannemann should resign now rather than wait until July 20, arguing that the mayor “displays a continuing willingness to violate the spirit of the Constitution for his own personal advantage.”

Hannemann, in his May 27 announcement that he was indeed running for governor, said, “My intention is to provide for a smooth transition of power to the managing director and avoid a wasteful and unnecessary special election.”

The mayor, of course, was referring to the May 22 special election to replace Abercrombie in the 1st Congressional District seat.