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Nearly three dozen employees of the Abercrombie administration, including a lot of cabinet directors and their deputies, have donated money to their boss’s re-election.

While totaling less than 5 percent of the $860,000 in campaign contributions Neil Abercrombie raised during the first six months of this year, they represent a continuing source of funds intended to give the governor another four years in office.

Some officials, like Adjutant General Daryll Wong, senior advisor Kate Stanley and Mary Alice Evans, the deputy director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, donated more than $4,000 each during the current election cycle.

The pattern of giving it up for the boss was evident in Abercrombie’s , which included many of the very same people who gave in 2013 along with Attorney General David Louie and Budget Director Kalbert Young.

The governor may currently be supported by less than half the electorate, as a June Civil Beat Poll showed. But at least he can count on the people who work for him.

Contributing to the political campaign of the person you work for is not a new practice. For instance, dozens of people who worked under Mufi Hannemann when he was Honolulu mayor contributed to his unsuccessful 2010 gubernatorial campaign.

But the donations from people in Abercrombie’s administration stand out for several reasons. For one thing, there are a lot of them, and some contributions, like Stanley’s, are at the maximum limit of $6,000. (Stanley actually gave $6,040.)

For another, a good many of the 30-plus administration donors made donations in the $5, $10 and $20 range, though they have contributed much more during the full election cycle. One example: Loretta Fuddy, the Department of Health director, gave her boss just $20 this year, raising her total contribution to $620.

It is almost as if these employees are contributing by design — and in installments.

Another thing that stands out about Abercrombie’s with the state is that he received no money from state legislators and major union leaders.

Meanwhile, state Sen. David Ige, who entered the race just a few weeks ago, just $21,100 in the recent cycle. He has $86,379 cash on hand.

If Ige hopes to be a credible challenger, he’ll have to do a whole lot better. The governor has raised nearly $3 million so far and has $2.1 million cash on hand. Considering that Abercrombie spent in his 2010 campaign to defeat Hannemann and former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, he should feel pretty good about where he is right now.

Still, one suspects the campaign wishes it had raised more money. It held no less than this year, including three in late June that concluded with a 75th birthday bash for the governor June 26 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Abercrombie asked for contributions in the $1,000 to $2,000 range, and a lot of big spenders complied. But so did a lot of other people who donated only a couple hundred bucks.

Abercrombie did receive well over $20,000 in contributions from labor union political actions committees like the IBEW Local 1260 Voluntary Political Fund. The bulk of his money came from major local businesses like Hawaiian Electric and Matson Navigation, and well-known business executives such as Alexander & Baldwin CEO Stanley Kuriyama and KYO-YA Management Company VP Victor Kuriyama.

Interestingly, the governor also received $6,000 from royal descendant Abigail Kawananakoa, who usually gives to Republican candidates. And his mainland contributors include $6,000 from the likes of Harold Ickes, a confidant of former President Bill Clinton and co-chair of a labor and government relations firm in Washington, D.C.

The Abercrombie campaign during the latest filing period, with about 10 percent going to a single employee, Debi Hartmann, a longtime loyal leader of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

Abercrombie Administration Donors to Abercrombie Campaign, Jan. 1 – June 30, 2013

Source: Civil Beat analysis of Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s campaign contributions.