������Ƶ

Surprise, no surprise: The Democratic Party of Hawaii was quick to react to on Tuesday that Tulsi Gabbard has joined the Republican Party.

A post on X Wednesday included the hashtags #AlohaAlsoMeansGoodbye and #ByeFelicia, the latter referring to a 1995 film titled “Friday” and starring Ice Cube. (The Blog had to Google that one.)

And on Thursday Gabbard with former President Donald Trump at an Asian American and Pacific Islander community event.

Gabbard’s rightward trajectory after having served four terms as a Democrat representing blue Hawaii in the U.S. House of Representatives still has some folks here at home scratching their heads. She spoke at the Democratic National Committee in 2012 before she had even been sworn in, after all, and she ran for president as a Dem just four years ago. She was even described as a Democratic media darling.

Tulsi is now a republican, is anyone else NOT shocked by this?

— Hawaiʻi Dems (@HawaiiDems)

But there have long been doubts about Gabbard’s true leanings — and ambitions.

In a 2012 Civil Beat article titled “Tulsi Gabbard’s Leftward Journey,” the candidate said she was pro-choice and would fight to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act that defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman. But the same article also noted how Gabbard had changed her political stripes before — notably in 2004, when she opposed civil unions as a Democrat in the state House.

“To try to act as if there is a difference between ‘civil unions’ and same-sex marriage is dishonest, cowardly and extremely disrespectful to the people of Hawaii who have already made overwhelmingly clear our position on this issue … As Democrats we should be representing the views of the people, not a small number of homosexual extremists.”

What happens next to Gabbard’s shooting star depends on who is elected president, of course. If it’s Donald Trump, a White House perch seems possible. If it’s Kamala Harris, she’ll likely remain a fixture in the right-wing sphere.

Either way, she remains Hawaii’s most well-known politician after Barack Obama.

Making the grade: , a libertarian think tank, has just published a on U.S. governors, and ours does pretty well.

Governors getting an A are those who have cut taxes and spending, while governors earning an F increased taxes and spent the most. Top grades went to the govs of six red states: Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Jim Justice of West Virginia, Jim Pillen of Nebraska, Kristi Noem of South Dakota, Sarah Huckabee Sanders of Arkansas and Greg Gianforte of Montana.

But coming in at No. 7 is Josh Green, the highest-scoring Dem in the report. Cato singled out for praise the big tax cut Green signed into law this year, which was much bigger than he actually proposed, thanks to the Legislature.

A Special Commentary Project

Civil Beat opinion writers are closely following efforts to bring more transparency and accountability to state and local government — at the Legislature, the county level and in the media. Help us by sending ideas and anecdotes to sunshine@civilbeat.org.

Read More

“This was a large tax cut, particularly in a state that rarely cuts taxes,” according to the report. “However, the law did not reduce Hawaii’s high top tax rate of 11%. Nonetheless, taxpayers will save more than $3 billion over the first five years, which is one of the largest state tax cuts relative to total tax revenues among the states in recent years.”

The Cato Institute also gave six governors a grade of F. They are all Democrats, and they include Tim Walz of Minnesota, who is now running for vice president.

Everyone gets a trophy: Wesley Fong, the chair of the Hawaii State Ethics Commission, is pleased that dozens of state agencies, boards and commissions have completed 100% of their mandatory ethics training. The Blog is too.

The agencies include the Public Utilities Commission, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the UH Board of Regents, the offices of governor and lieutenant governor and the Board of Land and Natural Resources.

“Since April 2023, an impressive 88% of state employees and 91% of state board members have completed the training, demonstrating a strong commitment to upholding ethical standards across our state,” Fong said in a press release Wednesday.

Getting the AAPI vote out: Political campaigns are eager to motivate Asian American Pacific Islander voters.

A from the nonprofit, nonpartisan includes the work of , a Native Hawaiian interdisciplinary artist and kapa maker from Papaikou on the Big Island.

Lehuauakea created a series of and digital posters. Below is one titled “Kaiāulu: Belonging Together.”