Mark Takai – Hawai'i Political Scene

Dirty tricks come to Hawai`i: Nixon’s man funnels cash & lies from Wall Street to Waikiki

October 21, 2014 by Karen Chun

By HNL on FireDogLake. Reprinted with permission.

Fred Malek was one of the original – and worst – Dirty Tricksters of the Nixon era:

He worked in the Nixon administration to root out civil servants and replace them with Nixon supporters. He was specifically tasked with politicizing departments of the government and handing out illegal political patronage. He claimed that a “Jewish cabal” was undermining Nixon at the Bureau of Labor Statistics and hunted them down by looking for people with “Jewish-sounding names” and driving them out of their jobs.

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GOP PAC goes after Mark Takai with $300,000 last minute negative ads

October 18, 2014 by Karen Chun

With just two and a half weeks to go and mail-in voting well underway, the National Republican Congressional Committee has decided to concentrate on five seats. One of them is Hawaii’s congressional district 1 where Mark Takai (D) is facing Teapartier Charles Djou.

Two conservative groups say they’ll spend $3.2 million targeting Democrat-held congressional seats. American Action says it will put $300,000 into ads against Mark Takai (D). Look for things to go heavily negative on Hawai’i TV soon.

Allen West craziness reaches all the way to Hawaii's Charles Djou

October 10, 2014 by Karen Chun

Allen West, the former congressman and Fox News commentator known for wacko statements and crazy Teaparty extremism, may endorse and support Hawaii’s congressional aspirant, Charles Djou (R). Ironically Djou is running away from his right-wing views, backpedaling on his anti-gay, anti-choice stances and trying to make voters in blue Hawaii forget he’s a Republican.

Donna Mercado Kim Fakes Environmentalism

August 2, 2014 by Karen Chun

After a dismal performance in the July 23 KITV debate where CD1 hopeful, Donna Mercado Kim, told us that the solution to improving the economy is to remove regulations (a statement that made both environmentalists and labor supporters cringe) and a stunningly uninformed interview with the Hawaii Independent, Kim must have felt she needed to improve her image.

Progressive Caucus Endorses Mark Takai for Congress (CD1)

July 25, 2014 by Karen Chun

On the heels of a solid performance in the Hawaii Congressional District 1 debate among the 7 candidates running in the Democratic Party, Mark Takai racked up another progressive coup: Endorsement by the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC).

HI-01: Will progressives split the vote and let the anti-progressive win?

July 1, 2014 by Karen Chun

Reprinted from DailyKos

The Hawai’i Congressional 1 race has several good candidates and a leading candidate who is so bad that progressives are saying they’ll vote the Republican candidate if she wins the primary.

Despite being a deep blue state, (or maybe because it is) Republican candidates often join the Hawai’i Democratic party. You folks may talk about the “Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party” but here we talk about the “Republican wing of the Democratic Party” and we’re dead serious.

One of the most egregiously unprogressive candidates is Donna Mercado Kim who is leading the HI-01 race both in the polls and in the money.

The Civil Beat poll (margin of error 6%) showed “…it clearly looks like a race between state Sen. Kim and state Rep. Takai”.
Kim 30%
Takai 24%
Chang 9%

And Open Secrets shows that only three candidates are competitive:
Kim: Cash on Hand:$534,893, Total Raised: $582,775
Chang: Cash on Hand: $331,213, Total Raised: $557,748
Takai: Cash on Hand: $322,026, Total Raised: $453,919

Takai and Chang are both espousing progressive positions. In the Hawaii Legislature, Takai has been a reliable vote in favor of the environment. His lead in the polls and consistently good votes on environmental issues led the Sierra Club to endorse him and urge folks to consolidate around a single Not-Kim candidate.

If there is no consolidation Kim will win.

Kim not only has a checkered past when it comes to ethics but she’s being supported by the Pat Roberts Christian Coalition for her anti-abortion, anti-gay, and pro-school-prayer positions. Kim recently voted no on marriage equality (which passed anyway).

She’s made it clear that she supports corporations over the environment by appointing a Monsanto lobbyist to the Water Commission nominating committee right after Monsanto was twice turned down by the Water Commission.

In contrast, the Sierra Club endorsee Mark Takai, has expressed progressive positions. He’s always been excellent on renewable energy, supporting programs for low income people to install PV, credits for solar, and walking the walk by converting his own home to solar.

He voted in favor of Marriage Equality and received the Equality Hawaii endorsement. (Equality Hawai’i is another progressive organization which is extremely worried that folks won’t rally around a single Not-Kim candidate)

Mark Takai is advocating for rebuilding our transportation and communication infrastrucucture. He says, “At a time of unprecedented onslaughts and attacks against unions and working families across the country, I will continue to be a champion for organized labor and working families.” On women’s issues he supports choice, equal pay and has worked hard on the military sexual assault issue.

Takai supports Brian Schatz and Elizabeth Warren in the “Strengthening Social Security Act” which will raise or eliminate the cap on FICA taxable income. That cap means that the poor and the middle class pay 6.5% FICA tax on everything they earn but that someone making a million dollars per year pays less than 1% on their earnings.

Takai, a member of the Hawaii National Guard, was deployed to the Middle East and, as is often the case, this has reinforced his resolve to prevent us from engaging in unnecessary wars. He opposed entering the Iraq war and continues to oppose more involvement in Iraq.

Takai’s military experience will help him in HI-01 where there are substantial military votes and will also position him to compete head to head with the Republican Charles Djou who is in the Army Reserves. (We’re talking about the registered Republican – not Donna Kim who is the stealth Republican.)

Progressive Caucus members Mike Honda and Mark Takano have both endorsed Mark Takai.

The Civil Beat poll showed that Takai is within striking distance of Donna Kim and two progressive organizations are urging us to consolidate support around this progressive Not-Kim candidate. Whatever we do, we cannot allow the Republican-registered-as-a-Democrat, Donna Kim win. It will take all of us getting behind one of the progressive alternatives to beat her.