Ad Watch: Shan Tsutsui Reminds Voters Who He Is
The lieutenant governor may not be widely known outside of his home island of Maui.
State Sen. Clayton Hee announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor May 11. Some聽three weeks later, the guy Hee聽wants to replace took his campaign to the airwaves.
Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui, a Democrat, has聽spent nearly $40,000 to run two ads nearly 100 times in the past two weeks, according to Civil Beat research.聽Both ads aim to remind voters who he is.
After all, Tsutsui聽has only been on the job for a year and a half, having聽become lieutenant governor in December 2012 when Brian Schatz left the position open after Gov. Neil Abercrombie appointed Schatz to the U.S. Senate.
Tsutsui, who was state Senate president at the time, had to be persuaded to take the LG gig. While the Hawaii Constitution states that the Senate president is next in line to the lieutenant governor, it is not a mandated elevation; Tsutsui could have said no.
PF Bentley/Civil Beat
But he took the job, and Abercrombie sweetened the deal by allowing Tsutsui to work out聽of an office in Wailuku rather than be stuck at the fifth floor of the Hawaii State Capitol.
The arrangement allows Tsutsui, who will turn 43 on primary day Aug. 9, to be close to his wife and their three聽young聽daughters. But it also means he’s often not on Oahu and perhaps not as visible a presence. Hence the need to introduce himself.
Tsutsui’s 30-second commercials are similar.
Both state in big letters on the screen the words “Lieutenant Governor Shan Tsutsui.” Both place a priority on education. Both feature kids. (As best I can tell, they include his own.) Both show Tsutsui in聽four different aloha shirts. And none include his boss, Abercrombie.
That may be intentional. After all, Abercrombie has his own primary challenger in state Sen. David Ige, and voters聽may choose Abercrombie-Tsutsui, Abercrombie-Hee, Ige-Tsutsui or Ige-Hee.
(Voters might also pick someone else: There is one other Democrat running for governor and three other Democrats running for LG. None are well known, with the possible exception of LG candidate Mary Zanakis, a former television reporter.)
The first Tsutsui commercial is titled and was posted on YouTube May 27.
Viewers learn that Tsutsui’s聽great-grandfather arrived on Maui in 1907. There are vintage black and white photos of his ancestors and of a 4-year-old Shan.聽We also see Tsutsui all grown up and wearing suits at the Legislature.
The second commercial is titled 聽and was posted to YouTube June 2.
Viewers hear that Tsutsui supports an education program called R.E.A.C.H., but聽they don’t hear much about it.聽The聽聽pilot project was launched by Tsutsui’s office this year and has helped channel more than聽$260,000 to nine聽public intermediate and middle schools.
That’s great, but R.E.A.C.H. pales in comparison to Hee’s recent accomplishments such as guiding legislation on same-sex聽marriage, increasing the minimum wage and protecting Turtle Bay.
The ads are paid for by聽“Shan鈥檚 friends,” which gives a Wailuku address. This helps聽emphasize that Tsutsui is from the neighbor islands, which may help him against Hee, who is from Oahu (though Hee聽previously served in the state聽House representing Molokai, Lanai and West Maui).聽Though most of the state’s聽population resides on Oahu, garnering support in聽Hawaii, Maui and Kauai counties is critical in a gubernatorial 聽contest.
Also emphasized is that Tsutsui’s campaign is playing up his聽first rather than his last name. Indeed,聽the URL for his campaign website is .
That’s not unusual. Folks in Hawaii like to feel they know a candidate on a personal level. Because of our small population and land base, many actually do.
What Tsutsui needs to do soon, however, is to let voters know more about what he has聽done for Hawaii, and what he wants to do if given a new four-year term.
