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Throw the bum out: Hawaii’s primary election is less than six months away but dozens of people are trying to get Scott Nago, the chief elections officer, canned.

The Nago haters, several of them with ties to the Republican Party, turned out in droves to testify virtually and in writing before the Elections Commission hearing Tuesday afternoon. They blamed Nago for low voter turnout, for failure to address election complaints, for dated voter rolls, for not ensuring ballot chain of custody, for setting up all mail-in voting and for being in the job way too long — 15 years and counting, as one critic remarked.

Nago did have a supporter or two on hand, including Moana Lutey, Maui’s county clerk. But the naysayers dominated and were often brutal in their condemnation of Nago.

Here’s a sample from written testimony that was submitted.

“I would like for Mr. Nago to be immediately removed from his positions of Chief Election Officer and immediately arrested and imprisoned,” wrote. “Then transferred to the United States Marines for court martial as an enemy combatant along with every single member of the election commission and elections office of Hawaii.”

Throughout it all — the meeting went on for hours — Nago listened patiently and commented from time to time.

Commissioners eventually went into executive session and emerged some time later to explain that a motion to remove Nago from his post failed, even though several commissioners clearly want him gone, especially Ralph Cushnie of Kauai, who has for several years now griped about the integrity and legality of the elections office. Cushnie was appointed by Rep. Lauren Matsumoto, the House minority leader.

There was also confusion among some members over the motion itself and other proposed motions, and whether the meeting was even properly adjourned. And it’s not over yet. The reappointment of Nago will be the first agenda item at the next Election Commission meeting, chair Michael Curtis told The Blog Wednesday.

Beware of lobbyists bearing gifts: It’s taken nearly five years, but the City and County of Honolulu appears to be close to forbidding city employees — specifically, the mayor, the prosecuting attorney, council members and administration officers — from accepting gifts related to their official duties (with some exceptions).

At a Honolulu Ethics Commission meeting Wednesday, chair David Monk said he was optimistic after discussions with City Council Chair Tommy Waters and council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam. But staff are still working on the precise language, he said.

For example, gifts of “negligible value” would be exempt from the proposed law such as for lei under $25. But, like practically all goods and services these days in an time of inflation, $25 only goes so far.

“Gift” is defined as “money, goods, service, loan, travel, entertainment, hospitality, thing of value, favor, gratuity, commission, or promise of a gift in any other form.” But exemptions would include things like condolence and birthday cards, a beverage or snack at a conference or meeting, and awards, plaques, certificates and mementos.

There is also a concern from Dos Santos-Tam that the language on who would be prohibited from giving gifts is too broad. It currently applies to “lobbyists, vendors, contractors, clients, political committees, tenants, concessionaires, persons with an interest that may be affected by performance or non-performance of the official’s or employee’s official duties, and any individual seeking official action from, or doing business with, the city.”

The goal, said Monk, is to more narrowly tailor the prohibited-source language. An amended version of Bill 26 could be heard by the council in early March.

Seriously, Trump-Gabbard 2024?: There’s more buzz that a certain former congresswoman from Hawaii who used to be a Democrat and who once ran for president is on the short list for the all-but-certain Republican nominee for president this year.

Donald Trump this week that Tulsi Gabbard is among the possible running mates for the 45th president who wants to be the 47th. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are on the list, too, as are Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem — Republicans all.

The GOP race will probably end Saturday when South Carolina Republicans vote in that state’s primary, given that Niki Haley is currently trailing by some 30 percentage points in the polls.

PRP PR: How do people in Hawaii feel about Hawaii? A new poll says that 56% of residents believe the state is on “the wrong track,” up from 45% just four years ago.

That’s just from Pacific Resource Partnership, which represents the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters — the largest construction union in the state.

Other items from the poll, which was conducted by Anthology Research of Honolulu:

• 80% of residents say the gap between rich and poor is growing;
• 51% blame government permitting for our housing crisis;
• 65% of respondents say we should allow more visitors to Hawaii “to create jobs for residents and opportunities for small businesses”;
• 44% of those who took part in the survey have personally thought about leaving the state; and
• 78% are not willing to pay a higher cost of living to meet the state’s 100% renewable energy goals.

PRP’s interim executive director Josh Magno said in press release that he hoped the “sense of pessimism” about the future of the state might also lead to the “right mix of ideas and innovation to move Hawaii forward.”

The PRP poll comes in an election year, one in which the carpenter’s super PAC Be Change Now will no doubt be working to elect candidates “to move Hawaii forward.”