Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 26, Number 7, 1 July 2009 — Taking the reins of the Hawaiʻi GOP [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Taking the reins of the Hawaiʻi GOP

By Lisa Asatū Public lnfurmatiun Specialist Getting settled into his newly elected post as chairman of the Hawai'i Republican Party, lonah-Kūhiō Ka'auwai surrounds himself with framed desktop photos of his family in his Kapi'olani Boulevard office, a space dominated by statewide maps hung on the wall and a large, colorful illustration of former President Ronald Reagan, whom Ka'auwai calls "a man of deep values." But when asked whieh Republican figure he admires most, the 36-year-old Ka'auwai points to the one whose name he carries: Prince lonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole, father of the Hawaiian Civic Clubs and the federal Hawaiian Homes Conunission Act. "With that name comes great responsibility," says Ka'auwai, a Kaua'i native who worked in Washington, D.C., for about a year as an intern for Sen. Daniel Akaka and a lobbying firm under the late Henry Giugni, a longtime aide to U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye and the first Hawaiian sergeant-at-arms to the U.S. Senate. Hawai'i GOP members elected the former men's pastor and worship leader at Hope Chapel, West O'ahu, to the volunteer, twoyear position during its annual convention May 15-17 in Kona. He's not the first Hawaiian to hold the position; Mieah Kāne and Sam Aiona preceded hini. But he stepped into the post Iuly 1, less than 18 months before the 2010 elections, whieh will see races from the governor's office to the U.S. Congress open up. His goals for the eleetion? He wants to see more Hawaiians running, period - no matter their political affiliation. But for the GOP, he aims to field candidates in every election - including next month's nonpartisan special election to fill the Honolulu City Council seat left vacant by the death of

Duke Bainum - and to double Hawai'i GOP membership to 40,000. He said in one-week's time he received an estimated dozen calls from people interested in running for office under the GOP banner in the next election, including several Hawaiians. Not wanting to reveal their identities, he said, "They'll be names you'll be familiar with, but they've never run for politics." As ehainnan, his overarching goal is

"to see the depth of two-party system in Hawai'i, where there's more than just one party in the polit- I ieal scene making decisions for the

state of Hawai'i," said Ka'auwai, who registered more than 400 new party members in the last six months.

including 17 Democrats. "I eall it card-carrying liberations," he said.

Gov. Linda Lingle - the first Republican governor since statehood, whose tenure will end under term limits - has also been a proponent of a twoparty system in Hawai'i, where Democrats hold all four of its congressional seats and all but eight of 76 seats at the state Legislature. While she helped make some inroads at the Legislature, those Repubhcan gains

in seats have eroded in recent years. " h Looking ahead, Ka'auwai said: "The party's focus is going to be devel- I oping strong grassroots (support) in ■ all precincts and districts in the state of ■

Hawai'i and building a stronger recruitment apparatus and district-level campaign apparatus. I don't think we've seen that before. We've seen a party that's been more candidatefocused and more issues-focused; ... we're talking about building at the lowest levels." That would include get-out-the-vote efforts, conducting community outreach and filling vacant positions in district and precinct chairs, said Ka'auwai, a 1990 Kamehameha Schools graduate who double majored in philosophy and business at Boston College. To get the word out, Ka'auwai said that he, lim Bryan, the party's vice ehainnan for eommunications, and the party's executive eommittee is working on developing and "eonununicating a Republican message." In an e-mail, Bryan said the party will use "every type of multimedia at our disposal to reach out to the population of Hawai'i - voters

and nonvoters e m b r a e e

alike." He said they will — Facebook, You-

T u b e eral new muninever lized

Twitter and "sevforms of eomcation that have b e e n u t i - in Hawai'i before" to spread the word and

correct stereotypes and misconceptions about the party. Crediting Ka'auwai's leadership, Bryan called the party's embrace of technology a "huge step for a party that has relied on 'old school' for a long time." As for the party's values, Ka'auwai points to family values, education, cost of living and fiscal responsibility. For the Akaka Bill, he said the party's platform is "wide open right now on the Akaka Bill," the federal recognition bill for Native Hawaiians pending in Congress. He said the issue "certainly could eome up" at the party convention in May. Ka'auwai served as a deputy chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona from late 2007 until February, when he returned to his post as division administrator of Correctional Industries, a for-profit entity within the state Department of Public Safety, a job he has held for five years. In that post, he turned a floundering, debtridden entity into a profitable one, by iniplementing basic business principles and "being cash-conscious and fiscally responsible," said Ka'auwai, whose wife, Shari, (pronounced Sha-REE) is the mainland branch administrator for the Public Safety Department. In the process, he got more inmates working eight-hour jobs, learning skills and responsibilities that helped them transition to the workforce after their release. "When you see

people succeeding from the work that you've done, I thought, 'That's where lonah was meant to be,' " said Ka'auwai. But, he said, a positive experience through an OHA youth legislative program years earlier planted the seeds for politics.

"I'll tell you how pivotal the 'Aha 'Ōpio program was on my life," he said, recalling that it taught him how decisions today will affect gener-

ations to eome and "how I needed to participate in order to contribute the most to Hawaiians through the systems that are in plaee, such as govermnent." One of his mentors in the program, whieh has evolved into a leadership program run by Nā Pua No'eau, was Kauila Clark, who imparted the idea of kuleana. "If you're a Hawaiian leader, you have to understand that in the position of leadership comes great responsibilities, and it's not just about what you ean gain, but how you ean end up serving other people in the process," said Ka'auwai, who named his youngest son after Clark. "Definitely, OHA has been a massive part of developing that understanding of what it means to be a Hawaiian," he said. "I think if you take that understanding of being responsible for the people and for the land, that shaped the character of who I am today and obviously why you see me as the chair of the Republican Party." ■

[ĒM. www.oha.org/kwo

KĀLAI'ĀINA - P □ LIT I C S

lonah Ka'auwai takes his seat as chairman of the Hawai'i Republiean Party July 1 . The blackchair, on left, was used by fhe former chairman, buf Ka'auwai has sef if aside fo remind him of fhe people he serves. "This chair is for fhe people and ourchildrenandour children yef fo eome," he says. - Photo: lisa Asoto