William Aila for Governor

Well, speaking of politics, I'd like to note yesterday's profile of William Aila as a Democratic candidate in the race for governor, going up against Randy Iwase in the primary. I don't know Aila personally, but I have heard only good things about him from those who do. And I don't know if Aila has any chance against Lingle (he has $6,800 on hand against her $3.3 million), but he has my support, and I give him credit for going for it.

The profile notes his activism on environmental and cultural issues, including:

He opposes basing the Stryker Brigade in Hawai'i because he contends the environmental reviews weren't done properly. He questions the impacts of military activities at Makua as a member of Hui Malama 'O Makua, a group that believes the valley is sacred, and is dedicated to protecting it.

... Aila is one of four board members of Hui Malama I Na Kupuna 'O Hawai'i Nei who were held in contempt on the same day that Judge David Ezra jailed Edward Halealoha Ayau, executive director of Hui Malama.

Imagine how things could change if he did manage to get elected. Once the primary is over, at least some more attention will shift to the governor's race and people will start paying attention to who the Dem nominee is. Hopefully Aila will have a chance to at least raise some issues, and who knows, anything can happen... It is worth giving him our support.

ailaforgov.org

Doug has more.

Update: It is also worth noting how this might be affected by the political drama that may be happening on the Republican side of the U.S. Senate race. Jerry Coffee has withdrawn for health reasons, which means that if he wins anyway, the Republican party (i.e. Lingle) gets to appoint the replacement. Lingle is actively urging Republicans to vote for Coffee (and not cross over to vote for Case on the Dem side). Lingle is definitely playing games with the system, not announcing who the nominee would be until after the election, and showing that the Hawaii GOP 'Machine' is just as bad or worse than the Dems are. There can be much speculation about motives and possibilities, including that Lingle herself might switch races and run for the Senate. In the context of this post, it seems to me that would mean Aila suddenly becomes more viable, given the relative shallowness of the Republican bench here. There are a few other reasonably strong candidates, but Lingle towers over anyone else politically in the Rs. Dunno, but it certainly could be the wild card of this Hawaii election season. For more details and speculation, worth reading these two posts and the comments at poinograpy.com.

Posted: Tue - September 12, 2006 at 05:38 PM

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William Aila for Governor

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