Familiar names seeking state Senate seats

HILO — Donald Ikeda. Lorraine Inouye. Kelly Greenwell. Bob Herkes. Gary Safarik. Josh Green.

There are a lot of familiar names interested in taking that step up, or resuming that seat, in the state Senate this year.

That’s according to the most recent state Elections Office report of candidates pulling nomination papers. The report, released Friday, gives an inkling of how competitive state legislative seats are likely to be, even with the addition of a fourth Senate seat following reapportionment and redrawing of district lines that happens every decade.

Candidates have been able to pull papers for state legislative seats for only about two weeks. All candidates for elective office have until June 5 to file their papers with the state.

The new District 4 has drawn the interest of former Sen. Lorraine Inouye, a Democrat who formerly represented much of that same area, a district that spans the northern part of the island from Kaiminani Drive in Kona to Honolii Stream in Hilo. Inouye represented what was then District 1 from 1998 to 2008.

Inouye said her three years out of the Legislature gave her time to reconnect with the Big Island community. She said it has pained her to watch the current state Legislature focus on raising gas taxes, car registration and rental car fees to balance the budget, rather than trying to stimulate the economy and help workers.

“They haven’t done much for the people of Hawaii. They keep raising user fees,” Inouye said. “There are a lot of unemployed. I just feel the people haven’t been taken care of.”

Former North Kona County Councilman Kelly Greenwell has also pulled nomination papers as a Democrat. Greenwell acknowledges his chances of winning are slim, but he said it’s important to be in the race to sharpen the debate. Of most pressing concern to Greenwell is the ongoing project to build a West Hawaii community college campus and the $5.5 billion rail transit project being constructed on Oahu.

“The people living in that district are going to be impacted by what is and what is not done,” with the new community college campus, he said.

Of the rail project, Greenwell said, “It’s going to be very difficult for the neighbor islands to get federal transportation funding for the next 40 years,” because of all the money going to Oahu.

The incumbent, Sen. Malama Solomon, a Waimea Democrat, hasn’t indicated her plans, although she was part of a lawsuit forcing the state Reapportionment Commission to give the Big Island that fourth district. Solomon, who represented that distinct from 1983 to 1998, was appointed in December by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to fill the seat vacated by former Sen. Dwight Takamine, whom Abercrombie appointed to head the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations.

Sen. Josh Green, a Captain Cook Democrat and the incumbent, is currently the only one who has pulled nomination papers for Senate District 3, which picks up south of Kaiminani Drive and spans the bottom of the island to Punaluu Gulch, the boundary of the Ka‘u Forest Reserve and Ainapo Trail.

“Working together over the past eight years, we have achieved great results for our community,” Green said in his March 1 campaign announcement. “We have succeeded in bringing more state resources to invest in our roads, schools and hospitals than West Hawaii has seen in decades.”

Senate District 2 features an old hand in the Legislature — Rep. Bob Herkes, a Volcano Democrat and 10-year veteran of the House. Also pulling papers is former County Council Chairman Gary Safarik, a Hilo Democrat.

District 2 goes east from the Punaluu Gulch, the boundary of the Ka‘u Forest Reserve and Ainapo Trail boundary and continues to Stainback Highway. There is no incumbent in the newly redrawn district.

The sole candidate pulling nomination papers so far for District 1 is County Councilman Donald Ikeda, a Hilo Democrat, who is term-limited after eight years on the council. District 1 runs from Stainback Highway and the Puna-South Hilo district boundaries to Honolii Stream.

Ikeda said Saturday he decided to go for the Senate seat because it encompasses much of his council district, and he’s familiar with the people and their issues. He said he’s been stymied on some of his efforts at the County Council level, because some issues such as flood control, education and health are determined at the state level.

“These are things that I think everyday people are concerned with,” Ikeda said. “I spend a lot of time in the community and I listen to their concerns.”

Sen. Gilbert Kahele, D-Ka‘u, Puna, Hilo, former East Hawaii campaign coordinator for Abercrombie, is the incumbent. He was appointed in January 2011 after Abercrombie named former Sen. Russell Kokubun chairman of the Department of Agriculture. He has said he’ll seek election to the seat.