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Home in the islands, in the middle of the sea: It seems every election cycle there are challenges to candidate residencies. Sometimes they can go on for years, like for former state Rep. Calvin Say and former state Sen. Brickwood Galuteria, who ultimately prevailed in their respective cases and are currently serving in other offices.

This year there were no less than four claims that 2024 candidates do not actually live in the district they wish to represent, but all four challenges were denied by the state Office of Elections.

They included a challenge to Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Luana Alapa’s nomination paperwork. The issue was was brought by one of her opponents on Molokai. Honolulu property records show that Alapa is a lessee on Hawaiian homelands in the Kalawahine neighborhood near Papakolea, and has had that lease since the early 2000s.

Alapa said she has lived on Molokai since 2019 on a 5-acre lot shared by her family. She said her daughter now lives in the Kalawahine home, where Alapa also stays while she attends OHA meetings on Oahu.

“I save OHA money when I opt not to take a hotel or rental car and stay with my daughter,” she said.

Hawaii Chief Election Officer Scott Nago also ruled this week that Hawaii County Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy is eligible to run for the state House District 2 seat vacated when Hilo Rep. Richard Onishi decided not to run for a seventh term.

The two other challenges were against Republican Sheila Medeiros, who is running for House District 43 (Kapolei, Makakilo) against GOP incumbent Kanani Souza, and Shelby Pikachu Billionaire, who is running for the U.S. Senate as a We The People candidate. The deadline to object to a nomination paper was June 12.

Check, please: With the Aug. 10 primary just eight weeks away, the number of elected officials and challengers holding campaign fundraisers continues to climb.

They include Rep. Scott Saiki (his most recent passing of the hat was at late last month) and challenger Kim Coco Iwamoto (one at , another at ) for the House District 25 seat in Honolulu. Even the Democratic Party of Hawaii and the Hawaii Republican Party are raising cash.

By law, elected and appointed officials planning to hold a fundraiser must notify the Campaign Spending Commission or else be subject to a fine that starts at $25 and then grows to $75 for a second offense and then to $150 for a third and subsequent offenses.

Rep. Elijah Pierick, a Republican representing District 39 on Oahu’s West Side, held a fundraiser last week but did not tell the commission in a timely fashion. He will soon be notified of his infraction, says commission attorney Gary Kam.

It’s a small world after all: The wall between government and lobbying can be awfully thin. No wonder that so many people are disillusioned with the inordinate influence of money in politics.

But knowledge is power, as the old maxim goes. That’s why this big change in personnel caught the attention of The Blog: Blake Oshiro, who serves as senior advisor to Gov. Josh Green, is expected to leave his post sometime this fall to return to his work as a lobbyist with , a major Hawaii lobbyist with deep ties to government and politics.

Oshiro was never expected to serve permanently with the Green administration. Still, it will be the loss of a skilled strategist with a thorough understanding of how the Legislature works. Oshiro is a former House majority leader.

But the governor will not be without experienced political hands. Oshiro is expected to be replaced by Will Kane, a senior vice president with , a public affairs and communications firm with offices in Washington, D.C., but also in many western states including Hawaii.

One of Strategies 360’s top executives is Andy Winer, a former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz and political advisor for Green’s gubernatorial campaign. Winer has also been a steady presence in the Green administration, continuing to lend a hand with numerous Green initiatives.

Big shoes to fill: The Sunshine Blog has fond memories of working with KITV’s Robert Kekaula, the longtime journalist and sportscaster who passed away three years ago this month.

So The Blog was pleased to learn that a Robert Kekaula Scholarship will be available this fall through the of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The scholarship is earmarked for Hawaii residents and Native Hawaiians who are in college and pursuing a career in broadcast journalism.  The first $5,000 scholarship will be awarded soon.

Kekaula’s influence was wide and deep. Enjoy this clip of  “Hawaiian Newscaster,” a local tribute: