Longtime Hilo state representative Jerry Chang will not be seeking re-election, he announced Friday.
Longtime Hilo state representative Jerry Chang will not be seeking re-election, he announced Friday.
Chang, a Democrat, has served in the House 24 years. He cited the state Redistricting Commission’s new district boundary lines that moved him from District 2, in Hilo, to District 1, which encompasses part of Hilo and Hamakua to Waipio Valley. That placed him in the same district as current District 1 representative Mark Nakashima.
Chang’s Honolulu office was closed Friday, according to a voice message. Chang did not immediately respond to attempts to reach him Friday afternoon.
“It’s always a difficult decision to run against another incumbent, especially a friend with whom I have worked during the past four years,” Chang said in a written statement. “It was a decision I did not take lightly. I will continue to serve the community that I love in other ways. Perhaps that will include running again for public office in the future.”
Chang and Nakashima testified against the redistricting changes that put them in the same district, during a meeting last August in Hilo. Nakashima said adding part of urban Hilo into District 1 could undermine its rural characteristic and lead to less clout for farmers and other rural homeowners in Hamakua.
“It’s not well thought out,” Chang said at the time.
This session, Chang served as chairman of the Water, Land and Ocean Resources Committee.
He told constituents at a meeting last June the position was more challenging than his old post as chairman of the Higher Education Committee. He cited as an accomplishment his committee’s work getting longer-term leases for commercial properties, such as hotels, on state land, allowing them to get better financing for improvements.
He thanked his constituents for electing him for 12 terms.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the people of the Big Island and the State of Hawaii,” he said. “I have always been humbled by their trust in me to be their voice at the Legislature. Together, with the Hawaii Island delegation, I am proud of the work that we have accomplished for the benefit of the people.”