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A 2012 competition for a state House of Representatives seat was marked by negative mailers from a conservative Christian group.

The mailers may have contributed to the loss of Democratic incumbent Marilyn Lee, one of the most liberal leaders in the Hawaii Legislature.

“Marilyn Lee does not represent our values,” read one mailer from , the non-profit and tax-exempt legislative action arm of . “Marilyn Lee is not interested in defending our religious freedoms.”

Both groups are opposed to gay marriage, an issue that Lee wholeheartedly embraces.

Lee believes the mailers helped contribute to her loss to Republican Beth Fukumoto.

Now, Lee is seeking to win her District 36 seat (Mililani Mauka, Mililani) back, criticizing her GOP opponent as out of touch.

But Fukumoto, a rising star in the Hawaii Republican Party, believes constituents support her efforts to increase dialogue and bipartisanship in state government.

If confronted with similar mailings in the 2014 race, Lee said she will respond more aggressively to counter the attacks.

Fukumoto, who said she was not connected to the mailers in the 2012 campaign, reiterated that citizens have the right to be involved in the political process.

“Like I said before, I think it is a person’s right to do things like that, so I wouldn’t ask them to stop — because that is interfering too, and I can’t in any way do that, it’s not legal,” she said. “But I would hope that [an attack] was truthful, and if it was untruthful, I would certainly tell them.”

Bellwether District?

The Lee-Fukumoto rematch — assuming both survive their respective party primaries — will test the assumption that Hawaii Republicans can make inroads at the Legislature.

With the governorship and the congressional delegation virtually locked up by the Democratic Party of Hawaii, the local GOP believes targeting specific state House and Senate races is its best bet to have greater say in local governance. Fukumoto is a key part of those efforts, and it’s based in part on youth.

Courtesy

State Rep. Beth Fukumoto

Fukumoto, 28, and Aaron Ling Johanson are among four House GOP members in the seven-member caucus who are under 35. Following the 2012 elections, Johanson replaced Gene Ward, the longtime Minority Leader, while Fukumoto became Minority Floor Leader. With the retirement of Barbara Marumoto last year and talk that Cynthia Thielen may be looking to step down after decades of service, a generational shift is apparent.

Fukumoto is also married to David Chang, the Hawaii GOP’s young party chairman, and the two are a kind of a power couple. The Daily Beast said Fukumoto “can rejuvenate the ailing party and inject it with fresh life.”

And yet, though they may have helped Joe Souki win back the speakership from Calvin Say, Republicans remain largely out of the power loop at the State Capitol. Johanson, Fukumoto and Co. could not stop the special session Gov. Neil Abercrombie has called for Oct. 28 to take up a same-sex marriage bill.

Fukumoto wants more time to debate the issue and complains that a session will cost too much.

“Put in other terms, if the average local resident pays $4,396 in state and local taxes per year, a special session would utilize all of at least five residents’ tax dollars for the year,” she emailed supporters Sept. 5. “Sometimes $25,800 doesn’t seem like a lot to the Legislature, but it is a lot to those families who have to pay their taxes.”

By contrast, Lee, though on the sidelines, firmly supports a special session for same-sex marriage rights and would vote for its passage.

“I am looking very carefully to the community’s reaction to the upcoming special session, and I like to think attitudes are changing,” said Lee, 73. “I am a churchgoer — I attend a Lutheran church in Mililani — and Beth is going to vote against [same-sex marriage], which is kind of strange.”

By “strange” Lee means “ironic.”

“These two young women who are representing Mililani, which is an educated community, I think a vote against same-sex marriage would be on the side of the past,” she said.

The second woman Lee is referring to is Lauren Cheape, 26, a Republican who represents District 45 (Schofield, Mokuleia, Waialua, Kunia, Waipio Acres, Mililani). Like Fukumoto, she was also first elected in 2012, defeating Democrat Jake Bradshaw.

Cheape’s margin of victory was thin, just 1.6 percentage points. Some have said the same forces arrayed against Lee also targeted Bradshaw.

Fukumoto won more comfortably, defeating Lee by 4.8 percent. And Lee barely edged Republican Shaun Kawakami — by a mere .2 percentage points, or 16 votes out of more than 11,000 cast — in 2010, when Lee represented District 38 (Mililani, Mililani Mauka).

Kawakami, who was only 25 when he challenged Lee, is who serves as youth director at Mililani Missionary Church.

Community Needs

If Fukukmoto is part of the new Republican vanguard, Lee is a veteran of progressive Democratic politics focused on social issues.

A former registered nurse, Lee was first elected in 1996. She served a four-year stint as Majority Floor Leader and was vice chairwoman of the all-important House Finance Committee until she left office. She remains active in the community, appointed to the Mililani Neighborhood Board and representing Mayor Kirk Caldwell on the Mililani Mauka Neighborhood Board. She also serves on the Hawaii Commission on the Status of Women.

Lee’s experience in her community and in government is deep, and she has also gained recognition. In 2008, for example, the Hawaii Women’s Political Caucus hailed Lee as who serves as “a role model” to other women interested in seeking office.

Hawaii Office of Elections

Detail of House District 36.

The question for voters in Mililani and Mililani Mauka is, who best represents the district? It was one of several House districts that saw its political boundaries redrawn in 2011.

Lee says her current district includes parts of her old district and so the two districts are still similar. Yet she also notes that there are more recent residents as opposed to long-term residents.

That does not necessarily mean it is a younger district, said Lee; walking door to door, she has noticed lots of multigenerational families living under one roof. Her district also includes developments for seniors.

Fukumoto agrees that there are a lot of younger families living with or near their relatives in District 36. She said that redistricting made the district smaller than when Lee represented it, yet added some new territory, too. Fukumoto said top Republican politicians like Charles Djou and Duke Aiona have “typically performed better” in the area, especially in Mililani Mauka.

Fukumoto’s says she is a Christian with “moderate” political views. Her background includes working for Rep. Ward, in the House Minority Research office and as a marketing manager for Help-U-Sell Realty Pro. Fukumoto married Chang in July 2012 and uses her married name on her Facebook page.

The Republican incumbent rejects Lee’s contention that she has not been active in District 36.

“I know she’s been saying that, so it does not surprise me,” she said. “I feel it’s just her perception. Maybe we are getting invited to different events. But I am spending a lot of time going door to door, so I don’t think a lot of people think I am absent because I am showing up at their house.”

Fukumoto did allow that Lee was spending more time than her at neighborhood board meetings. But she defended her schedule, saying that her leadership duties and her position on the House Finance committee are demanding.

Besides her role in leadership and consultation with majority Democrats, Fukumoto said her accomplishments include bringing capital improvement project money to the district.

“I would say the other thing is that my voting record has been pro-education and pro-responsible spending, and those are two things people in Mililani have asked for,” she said.

Lee, who lost her husband Sam Lee in February 2012, is anxious to get back to unfinished legislative work, including taking care of seniors.

“I have so much I was working on, so many things I was actually the lead person on, including things in the women’s caucus,” she said. “I am one of the few people who knows health care really well — I have years and years of experience in it, and people turn to me for that.”

Lee continued: “I know this community better than just about anybody in this area. I know there are things I can do.”