Statement from HGEA’s Executive Director Randy Perreira
With the entrance of Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami into the race for Hawaii’s lieutenant governor, HGEA is demanding that Attorney General Anne Lopez give the public all the information she has on hand to ensure a free and fair election.
The AG’s office has in their possession all documents and recordings from the federal investigation, and withholding that information from the public is no longer an option. The public deserves to know what the AG knows in order to clear up the cloud of suspicion hanging over Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke. This will allow the electorate to make an informed decision and not be swayed solely based on media innuendo and unsubstantiated allegations.
No candidate should be allowed to capitalize on the mass confusion among the voting public about Luke’s campaign finances. So far, the public has not been given any evidence of wrongdoing. Her campaign made a few rather inconsequential recording errors, which Luke has reported and corrected as anyone with an ounce of integrity would do.
The longer the AG’s office sits on what they know, political opponents of Luke will be able to unfairly use the shadow of doubt against her. If the AG’s silence drags on, the voting public should be ready to conclude that what is occurring here is a calculated and organized effort by sitting politicians who would desire nothing else but to sink the career of a political threat, someone who has to-date shown an admirable level of personal integrity in office, whether as a state representative or as LG.
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Media Contacts:
Malulani Moreno
Communications Manager
(808) 543-0024
mmoreno@hgea.org
Kristina Lum
Senior Communications Specialist
(808) 543-0063
klum@hgea.org