By Boyd Ready – A Hawaii Republican Assembly (an organization not officially affiliated with the Hawaii Republican Party) graphic published on May 9, 2013 in Hawaii Reporter misstated the actual number of Republican electoral wins and the actual percentage changes for Republican state office holders for the period 1998-2012.
Notice how the HRA errors, which go from large to small, exaggerates the decline. Look closely at where we’ve had our biggest losses. We must be cautious about what we read, especially if we rely on it.
Historic Republican victories in several of our legislative districts in 2012, with new young legislators getting elected by tirelessly canvassing their districts, motivating their voters to go to the polls, and even unseating a long time Democrat incumbent in the state house is an indication that the downward trend since 2004 may be reversing. The victims of this downtrend are the residents of Hawaii who must bear the burden of one party rule and the excessive taxation, burdensome regulations, bloated state government, and lack of fiscal accountability one party rule brings.
Hawaii Republican House Minority Caucus influence has grown because it aligned itself with the governing coalition (a first in history in Hawaii’s State House) and in doing so, earned committee vice chairmanships and the opportunity to champion Republican and conservative values by preventing minimum wage & GET, hikes, stopped PLDC, increased transparency in budgeting, restored the Hurricane fund, and reduced the Governor’s bloated budget request.
Our Hawaii Republican Party remains committed to making our state better for everyone by championing Liberty , Limited Government , Individual Responsibility , Fiscal Responsibility , and Equality of Opportunity . We will continue to work hard to promote these values, educate and inform Hawaii’s voters, recruit quality candidates, and elect Republicans to help restore prosperity to our state, eliminate overregulation, reduce government waste, and ensure government officials are accountable for their actions. The Hawaii Republican Party welcomes all Hawaii citizens who share our values to join us.
Boyd Ready is the Vice-Chair of the Coordinated Campaign for the Hawaii Republican Party
**Note—Hi Legislative historic data is kept as 2-year increments, starting with the odd-numbered year. Gabbard flipped parties in 2007-08. Brickwood Galuteria, one time Democratic Party Chair, and Josh Green, are listed as R one year, mistakenly. Trimble & Whalen are listed as R senators in 2008, also mistaken. Karen Awana flipped in 2008. This corrected chart treats defectors as no Republican in office, but that does not account for most of the HRA errors.
Who cares if the numbers are off, the result is the same, the Republican Party representation has been in decline. Instead of squabling over the data, why don't we look for the root cause and correct it. Is it because Republicans have started to look like Democrats? Is it because the HRP is focused on National candidates more than local legislative candidates? Is it because the HRP Leadership is more about self serving than party serving? Is it because our message sucks? Is it because the HRP doesn't engage its grassroots? Is it because coalition groups aren't engaged? Is it because the HRP wants to be more like the RNC? There a myriad of reasons and opinions we are in decline, however, no one is providing the leadership to change it. Hopefully the election of the new officers will start to right this ship, because if not we will continue to struggle in Hawaii politics. Remember the definition of insanity, "doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results". That is exactly what this party has been doing the last 5 years.
You have to be careful about how you read and interpret everything. They are always trying to get you on board with their own agenda.
Well, anyway, only their agenda counts…
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