Ige Seeks Campaign Cash in Washington, D.C.
The Democrat running for Hawaii governor seeks big bucks from donors and PACs.
Suddenly the little guy needs big help.
David Ige may have dethroned an opponent who聽raised 10 times the amount of campaign cash in the primary election. But, finding himself in a four-way general election contest for governor, the Democratic nominee for governor has kicked up his fundraising schedule.
On Tuesday night Ige聽will be hosted at the Washington, D.C., home of John Jameson, who heads , a firm that works to send clients to local, state and federal office and advocates聽for legislative issues.
The U.S. Capitol
Chad Blair/Civil Beat
The as “America鈥檚 premier telephone voter contact firm for progressive groups, causes, and candidates.”
Its 聽major national unions like the聽 (SEIU), , which fights for LGBT聽rights, and the .
Jameson has hosted about a half-dozen聽Democratic Party candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives over the past four years, .
The for the Ige聽fundraiser at Jameson’s house are $1,000 to $2,500 for individuals and $2,500 to $5,000 for federal political action committees.
Here is a statement from Keith Hiraoka, Ige’s campaign manager, about the need to raise more cash: “We have been expecting outside groups like the Republican Governors Association to use the Hawaii governor’s race to advance their Republican agenda. We need to raise the resources to respond to the distortions and mis-truths of their attack ads and set the record straight.”
Ige certainly needs financial help.
As Civil Beat reported, the state senator聽loaned his campaign $50,000 in the final days leading up to his historic聽primary win over Gov. Neil Abercrombie on Aug. 9.
Ige drained his campaign account down to $17,799 after factoring in the loans, according to his final primary finance report, which covers July 26 to Aug. 9.
By comparison, Duke Aiona, the Republican nominee for governor, had聽$198,153 in cash on hand, according to his latest report. He faced no聽serious primary challenger and spent just $24,293 in the two weeks leading up to the primary.
Mufi Hannemann, running with the Hawaii Independent Party and unopposed in the primary, had聽$174,812 in cash on hand. But that does not聽include $82,703 in unpaid expenditures.
The D.C. fundraiser is Ige’s fifth since the primary. A is set for Oct. 2 back in Honolulu, at $1,000 per person.
The fourth candidate in the Hawaii governor’s race is Libertarian Jeff Davis, who has reported raising just聽$1,400.
