James Pflueger Donates $4,000 to Libertarian Jeff Davis’ Campaign
The Honolulu car dealer was sentenced to jail soon after giving the Hawaii candidate for governor his biggest contribution yet.
Two weeks before retired Honolulu car dealership owner James Pflueger was sentenced to jail for his role in the fatal Ka Loko dam breach, he made one of the biggest political donations of his life.
State campaign finance records filed this week show , the Libertarian candidate for Hawaii governor, on Sept. 30.
Pflueger, 88, was sentenced Oct. 15 to seven months in jail after pleading no contest in July 2013 to reckless endangering in the first degree. State prosecutors had alleged that Pflueger had illegally filled in the dam鈥檚 spillway, which, following more than a month of heavy rain on Kauai, led to its breach on March 14, 2006, washing away everything in its path and killing seven people.
Libertarian Jeff Davis speaks during聽a gubernatorial forum at UH West Oahu, Aug. 26.
PF Bentley/Civil Beat
The campaign contribution is the largest Davis has received to date. He has raised $5,463 since entering the race and spent $472 as of Oct. 20.
The donation also appears to be the single largest that Pflueger has given, at least in the past several years. Campaign finance聽records show he has given聽a total of $4,000 to Colleen Hanabusa, but that happened over the course of two years between 2007 and 2009.
Pflueger has also given money to Mufi Hannemann, but not recently. He donated $2,000 to Hannemann in 2010 when he stepped down as Honolulu mayor to run for governor as a Democrat. But he hasn’t contributed聽to聽Hannemann’s campaign this year as he tries again to become governor as聽the Independent Party candidate.
Neither Davis nor聽Hannemann is expected to win the gubernatorial election Tuesday. Just聽6 percent of voters surveyed in a Civil Beat poll this聽month said they would cast their ballot for Davis and only聽11 percent favored Hannemann.
