If money influences votes, it’s hard to tell who’s got an edge among the candidates for the .
A dozen individuals are running in the general election for four seats on OHA’s nine-member board of trustees — a position that pays $51,756. But only five have raised any money for their campaigns since January, and three are in the red.
The job entails leading a state agency charged with administering 1.8 million acres of ceded land held in trust for the benefit of Native Hawaiians. By law, OHA gets the bulk of its budget from revenues from the crown lands of the Hawaiian monarchy, with other funding from the state’s general funds and federal grants.
Nine candidates are running for three statewide at-large seats, and three candidates are seeking election to a seat representing Oahu. Non-native Hawaiians can run and vote for the offices.
Campaign finance reports due this week show only five of the candidates have done any fundraising since January. That includes three incumbents seeking re-election. A fourth incumbent didn’t raise a penny.
The five who did get contributions raised a total of $60,163 between Jan. 1 and Oct. 18. And they spent $65,928 during the same period. Three were in the red as of Oct. 18.
Six have no finance reports on file with the state’s .
Here’s a breakdown of the candidates:
- Candidate Joseph Lewis might have a financial advantage. He’s raised the most money among the candidates so far — $19,833 — and had $3,473 cash on hand as of Oct. 18. He spent $19,845 on his campaign between Jan. 1 and Oct. 18.
View Lewis’ disclosure .
- Incumbent Walter Heen, seeking re-election to represent an Oahu seat, has the most cash on hand: $13,720 as of Oct. 18.
Heen collected $4,700 in contributions and spent $8,454 between Jan. 1 and Oct. 18. He started his campaign with $12,105 cash on hand.
View Heen’s disclosure .
- Former OHA trustee and former state lawmaker Peter Apo, who is running for a seat representing Oahu, raised $12,205 since January.
He had some recognizable donors, including: Robert Iopa, president of WCIT Architecture ($3,000); Kitty Lagareta, CEO of PR firm Communications Pacific ($300); the Ironworkers for Better Government ($2,000); Honolulu developer Bert Kobayashi ($150); and Timothy Johns, president of Bishop Estate ($300).
But Apo’s expenses amounted to $19,673, leaving his campaign $7,243 in the red.
View Apo’s disclosure .
- Jeremy Kama Hopkins, an aide to OHA trustee Robert Lindsey, is running for an at-large seat. He raised $6,350 since January, including $1,000 from himself.
For the same period, the campaign reported just $900 in expenses for a single event, $400 for food and $500 for music entertainment. He had $5,450 cash on hand as of Oct. 18.
View Hopkins’ disclosure .
- Rowena Akana, who is seeking re-election to an at-large seat, raised $17,075 since January.
Akana spent $23,278 for the reporting period, almost all of it during September and October. Her campaign spent $17,056 to air television commercials on KHNL, KHON, KGMB and KIKU. She ended with a deficit of $5,127.
View Akana’s disclosure .
- Incumbent trustee John Waihee IV raised no money for the reporting period.
He spent just $1,175 for the period on printing campaign signs with Photographic & Signs of Honolulu. But he took out $22,000 in loans, leaving the campaign with a deficit of $23,175.
View Waihee’s disclosure .
Candidates who have not filed any electronic finance reports:
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Jackie Burke
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Leona Kalima
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Kealii Makekau
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William Meyers
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Michael Odegaard
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Oswald Stender
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