On Oct 10, 2014 International Transformation Network (ITN) and its local affiliate Transformation Hawaii are holding a "Night of Inspiration" for Duke Aiona and Elwin Ahu, Republican candidates for Hawai’i Governor and Lt. Governor. You may recall that this is the organization which brought the "kill the gays" law to Uganda.
Although the Uganda bill started out requiring the death penalty for gays, when it became law it provided life imprisonment instead. ITN has denied their role in the law, claiming they pulled out of Uganda before the law was passed but observers disagree, citing ITN as one of the religious organizations complicit in pushing Uganda’s president into advocating for this law.
Also speaking at the Aiona/Ahu event are Transformation Hawaii leaders Cal Chinen and Allen Cardines.
Duke Aiona lashed out against critics who linked him to ITN. In 2010 the Star Bulletin reported,
Lt. Gov. James “Duke” Aiona denounced efforts to link him with an evangelical group that has been accused of trying to make Hawaii the first Christian state and supporting efforts to imprison gays in Uganda.
Video shows him denying any connection with ITN.
And yet here he is – the star speaker (along with his running mate) at a huge ITN event. His campaign is being featured prominently on the main event page complete with his campaign website and twitter name.
Several questions leap to mind. How can Aiona deny involvement with ITN if they are featuring his campaign in their event? How can a nonprofit religious organization put on an obvious campaign event without losing their IRS 501c(3) status? How does this square with Aiona’s contention that he doesn’t mix politics and his religion?
Chair of the GLBT Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii Michael Golojuch Jr commented,
"Two former judges that want to turn Hawaii into the first all-Christian state, Transformation Hawaii’s goal, should make everyone ecstatic they are no longer on the bench."
Duke Aiona did not respond to our request for comment.
The current governor, Neil Abercrombie, although counted as a progressive in the Congress came home and sold out the state to the developers. He became so unpopular that David Ige won 2 to 1 in the primary.
Ige was initially neck and neck with Aiona but has crept up by a four point lead. Given the unreliability of Hawaii polls, this is entirely too close for comfort.
Aiona has been running a smart campaign. His only real position is solving the homeless problem with mobile courts which will presumably come to the homeless and streamline criminalizing them. His ads claim he will solve the high cost of living in Hawaii - a neat trick given we're 2,400 miles from the mainland and ship in almost all our goods.
David Ige (D) and Shan Tsutsui (D) are running for Governor and Lt. Governor. Ige is a fiscal conservative and has the characteristics that appeal to Hawai'i cultural values: humbleness, listening to both sides, working hard. Shan Tsutsui is a rising progressive star in the state. Both have been endorsed by the Sierra Club.
Tsutsui was appointed to the position of Lt. Governor after Brian Schatz was appointed to the U.S. senate. Tsutsui was previously president of the Hawai'i state senate and as such was automatically appointed by law when the Lt. Governor office became vacant.
Hawaii is a blue state and the possibility of electing an anti-gay, anti-choice, Republican theocrat boggles the mind.
However the GOP Governors group has been running nonstop ads and so has Aiona.
Please help by contributing to our progressive Lt. Governor candidate, Shan Tsutsui.