This column is not about Donald Trump.聽But first, let me just say a little about … Donald Trump.
Nationally, the Republican Party is in quite the quandary: Its leading presidential candidates are not from the establishment (i.e., Bush, Kasich and Christie, with Perry and Walker long gone) that has historically been the pool from which the eventual nominee is crowned.
Some party members are quite聽worried that a Trump, Cruz or Carson may end up winning the 2016 primaries and subsequently聽take the party down come November, even though Republicans control a majority of state legislatures and governorships and both houses of Congress.
Compare that to things聽here at home, where the Legislature has been dominated for decades by Democrats while GOP governors and congressional officials have been rather rare. Frustrated by the lack of electoral success in getting Republicans in office, a faction of the has been agitating for a leadership shakeup.
In short, the 聽(it’s homepage URL reads “Hawaii Deserves Better”) argues that the HRP is simply not conservative enough, especially regarding fiscal issues. But many establishment leaders say the way HIRA, as it’s more commonly known, is going about demanding change is seriously backfiring.
The assembly bills itself as the standard-bearer for Republicans in Hawaii, the “Republican Wing of the Republican Party,” the only true Republicans in a state where they argue that too many other party members are RINOs 鈥 Republicans In Name Only.
鈥淥ur organization is solely geared toward getting conservative Republicans into party positions and getting them elected to our state government, and advancing conservative positions from A to Z,鈥 said Tito Montes, assembly president. “The Republican Party is not different than the Democrats in Hawaii. They are very neutral on the issues, they don鈥檛 fight boldly or strongly, they don鈥檛 hold principled positions. They are weak and vacillating. They almost want to become Democrats Lite.鈥
Montes is聽a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, a Navy veteran and now reservist with 24 years of experience and a consultant to Pacific Fleet in Honolulu.
‘The Tea Party Before It Was The Tea Party’
The assembly’s website and extoll Ronald Reagan as its conscience. It believes in smaller government, lower taxes, free market capitalism, a strong defense, the right to life 鈥渁nd a decent Hawaii.鈥
Willes Lee, the assembly’s national director, is dismissive of the Hawaii Republican Party鈥檚 platform, which he calls 鈥渘uetral.鈥 The party鈥檚 principles fall under an awkward acronym 鈥斅犅犫斅爓hich stands for liberty, limited government, individual responsibility, fiscal accountability and equality of opportunity.
While Montes is the president, Lee, a West Point graduate, decorated veteran, former chair of the Hawaii GOP and a member of several conservative boards including for the National Rifle Assocation, has been involved with the assembly since聽2006.
The assembly is not an official arm of the Hawaii GOP but rather an affiliated chapter of the , a group whose origins date to California in 1934. The NFRA is backing Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for president, as are Lee聽and Montes.
鈥淲e were the tea party before it was the tea party,鈥 said Lee. 鈥淏ut now we are full spectrum and focused on fiscal issues.鈥
Those fiscal issues are at the core of the assembly’s criticism of the HRP, but its delivery of those concerns are in-your-face blasts delivered via its website and Facebook but also emails from the assembly and Lee. Lee鈥檚 are so lengthy that they are broken into two parts and illustrated with blue, black and red ink and frequent use of bold type and underlining.
On Dec. 1, for example, Lee accused聽GOP Chair Fritz Rohlfing of poor fundraising, misuse of funds and even embezzlement. Also tagged are former chair Pat Saiki, National Committeewoman Miriam Hellreich and Barbara Marumoto, a former state legislator who is the party鈥檚 vice chair for candidate recruitment.
Meanwhile, Montes, in a Nov. 23 email blast, explained that he wrote to Reince Priebus, chair of the Republican National Committee, telling him that the Hawaii party has 鈥渇orfeited all pretense of being a relevant organization that is governed with integrity.鈥 Montes complained that the HRP has threatened legal action against the assembly and 鈥渢eamed with a Democrat union law firm in order to shut down conservative Republicans.鈥
In addition to the embezzlement accusations against Rohlfing, Montes accuses Saiki, Hellreich and Marumoto of perpetuating 鈥渇raud-based fundraising activities.鈥
鈥淭hat is a snapshot of the corruption which taints our state party,鈥 Montes concluded before asking Priebus to halt any funding for the local party and help purge its leadership.
On聽Nov. 2 Montes said that the Hawaii GOP had hired a 鈥淒emocrat union lawyer鈥 to threaten legal action to shut the assembly down.
Michael Lilly, the party鈥檚 attorney, said he was 鈥渘ot at liberty鈥 to comment on possible legal action involving Rohlfing and the assembly. But, for the record, Lilly 鈥 who served as attorney general for former Gov. George Ariyoshi, a Democrat 鈥 is a 鈥渓ifelong, card-carrying member of the Republcan Party.鈥
‘Just A Bunch Of Radicals’
Rohlfing and Marcia Tagavilla, the party鈥檚 executive director, did not respond to phone calls and emails seeking comment. But Saiki said the assembly鈥檚 accusations are false.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e just a bunch of radicals out to cause problems,鈥 she said. 鈥淭hey do not have a leg to stand on, there is no evidence for their charges. They are reaching out to people to annoy them and to attempt to disrupt.”
Saiki described the assembly as a small faction that has little support within the party that is effectively聽turning聽people off by its 鈥渄isgusting鈥 tactics.
鈥淭hey think they are gaining steam, but all they are doing is flailing at every little thing they can find they think can help destroy the party,鈥 said Saiki, a former state legislator, congresswoman and candidate for governor and the U.S. Senate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not done for anything positive. They are supposed to be Republicans and supposed to be electing Republicans to office. But they are hardly doing anything to help that.鈥
(Saiki, Marumoto and Phil Hellreich, Miriam鈥檚 husband, are backing Jeb Bush.)
Beth Fukumoto Chang, the minority leader of Republicans in the state house of Representatives, agreed that the Hawaii Republican Assembly is in the聽minority of the minority party.
鈥淒oes the party need change? Absolutely,鈥 said Fukumoto Chang, the wife of former party chair David Chang. 鈥淏ut, HIRA isn’t advocating effective change. Their tone and tactics are completely out of sync with the majority of voters in Hawaii.鈥
(Fukumoto Chang is not yet committed to a presidential candidate.)
Another House Republican, Assistant Minority Leader Bob McDermott, said he has tried to be a bridge between the assembly and HRP to resolve differences. But he has given up, and told the assembly that if it feels Rohlfing is indeed an embezzler 鈥 McDermott clearly feels that is not the case 鈥 then it should聽file a police report instead of engaging in what he calls possible character defamation.
McDermott (who supports Rick Santorum but says his low polling may change that) says the assembly is hurting HRP鈥檚 fundraising efforts and dragging the names of others 鈥渢hrough the mud.鈥 Like Saiki, he does not think the assembly has a large membership.
鈥淭hese guys are minor,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is three guys eating Doritos in a basement sitting behind their computer, and they have to hurry before ‘Star Trek’ reruns begin.鈥
The three guys are Lee, Montes and Eric Ryan, said McDermott, referring to a local聽political operative with web skills who has had past controversial dealings with conservative pols such as Kymberly Marcos Pine and Tom Berg.
Lee said the assembly has several hundred members, while Montes denied聽that Ryan is involved with the assembly. As for the defamation allegation, Montes said, 鈥淚f telling the truth is defamation, then I guess so. But we are very careful in what we say.鈥
Taking his own jab, Motes added, 鈥淭his is politics, so if McDermott can take a beating from Pono Choices, I feel he can take criticism of the Republican Party.鈥
Separate Fundraising Efforts
Where the HIRA vs. HRP fight will end is impossible to know, but each is working to raise cash to help advance its respective causes.
The HRP reported having $60,000 in cash on hand at the end of November, . It posted $232,000 in operating expenses, including about $15,000 for maintenance and utilities of its Kapiolani Boulevard headquarters and $27,000 in mortgage payments. Paying for the HQ has been a challenge for years, and an assembly target. Tens of thousands of dollars have gone to past executive director Blake Parsons and current director Tagavilla in salaries and other expenditures.
For its part, the assembly has an independent expenditure committee, or super PAC, called . As of June 30 it reported $17,400 in cash on hand and donations from McDermott, perennial local candidates Cam Cavasso and John Carroll and Charley鈥檚 Taxi executive Dale Evans.
One indication of which group is prevailing among Republicans may come during the March 8 presidential caucus. More than聽10,000 Hawaii Republicans participated in the 2012 caucus (the establishment candidate, Romney, won), the first of its kind here.
Nationally, despite successes in state houses, governorships and Congress, Republicans have lost the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections.
Lee said the way to change that is by sticking to conservative principles 鈥 something he feels will also put more Republicans into local office.
鈥淚 think it will come, but we have to be better,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 will hear on the mainland the blaming of voters or blaming of something other than our inability to effectively get our message to the people of of Hawaii. This is the Republicans’ inability to put forth competent candidates and inability to support them. If we can鈥檛 do that, we can鈥檛 break through.鈥
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About the Author
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Chad Blair is the politics editor for Civil Beat. You can reach him by email at cblair@civilbeat.org or follow him on X at .