Forward Progress, a Honolulu-based political action committee allowed by law to raise and spend unlimited amounts, has pumped more than $100,000 into a campaign to elect Ron Gonzales for County Council District 9, eclipsing threefold the money he raised on his own.
Forward Progress, a Honolulu-based political action committee allowed by law to raise and spend unlimited amounts, has pumped more than $100,000 into a campaign to elect Ron Gonzales for County Council District 9, eclipsing threefold the money he raised on his own.
As of Oct. 20, the super PAC has spent more than $1 million in council races on three islands, according to a report filed Monday with the state Campaign Spending Commission. It’s primarily targeting incumbents opposed by its sole supporter, the pro-construction PAC Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program.
In the latest report, and in prior reports it amended to add more details after inquiries from the spending commission and Stephens Media Hawaii, Forward Progress reported $97,602 on purchases directly attributed to supporting Gonzales, and another $13,972 in mailers opposing incumbent Kohala Councilwoman Margaret Wille. Other expenditures are listed more generally, and it’s not possible to tie them to a single candidate.
In contrast, Gonzales raised $34,723 on his own, and Wille raised $31,539 during the same period.
Gonzales was astounded by the amounts being spent to support him. Super PACs aren’t allowed to coordinate their campaigns with those of the candidates, and Gonzales said he’s had “no contact whatsoever” with Forward Progress.
“If I had a hundred thousand dollars to spend on my campaign, I think I’d be getting a little more bang for the buck,” he said Tuesday.
Wille called the money attributed to the District 9 race “just the tip of the iceberg.” There’s a lot more in that $1 million being spent here, she said.
“I think it’s outrageous that they want to take control of the local government,” she said. “I think they see Ron as a pawn; I think they see him as a puppet.”
Forward Progress reported spending money for radio ads, mailers, polling and door-to-door canvassers in the Wille-Gonzales race. A much smaller amount was spent before the primary on mailers supporting District 6 candidate Maile David and District 5 candidate Tiffany Edwards Hunt.
A Forward Progress spokeswoman could not be reached by press time Tuesday.
But following a request earlier this month, the super PAC issued this emailed statement: “Forward Progress is an independent expenditure committee formed to help voters understand where candidates stand on the important issues facing Hawaii. Forward Progress supports candidates who have a desire, commitment and plan to make Hawaii a desirable and affordable place to live.”
The infusion of outside money is a trend in local politics, as deep-pocket interests, buoyed by changes in federal law that now allow them unlimited campaign spending, try to pick city and county governments attuned to their special interests. In Hawaii, genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, have become a flashpoint as local governments on the Big Island, Maui and Kauai try to regulate them.
A single pro-GMO PAC on Maui, for example, has spent $7.9 million trying to defeat a ballot initiative restricting GMO crops. On Hawaii Island, Wille was instrumental in drafting a county measure limiting GMOs here. Passed by County Council and signed by the mayor, the new law is currently being fought in federal court.
Wille earlier this year reported $4,000 in contributions from two Charlevoix, Mich., anti-GMO activists. The GMO opposition PACs have been particularly active on Maui, but their money doesn’t come close to that of the pro-GMO contingent, according to spending reports.
Forward Progress was formed earlier this year by Pacific Resource Partnership, a group that came under investigation by the Campaign Spending Commission after settling a defamation lawsuit filed by former governor and Honolulu mayoral candidate Ben Cayetano.
Cayetano, the early frontrunner in that 2012 race, was defeated after a steady stream of negative ads of dubious veracity.
The negative advertising could backfire, said Waikoloa resident Tane Noguchi, who said she’s received two calls from pollsters trying to influence her vote. Both mentioned Wille, she said, and one was “nasty against her.”
“I’m sick of mudslinging,” Noguchi said, “and I think a lot of people are.”
Email Nancy Cook Lauer at ncook-lauer@westhawaiitoday.com.