Duke Aiona
Duke Aiona (Republican Party) was the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii.
Aiona (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Hawaii. Aiona lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Aiona is the former Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. He was first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Aiona lost his first bid for Governor of Hawaii in 2010, losing to Democrat Neil Abercrombie in the general election on November 2, 2010. Abercrombie was ousted in the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary; Aiona ran to replace him in the 2014 general election, but again was unsuccessful.
On August 9, 2014, Aiona became the Republican nominee for governor for the second cycle in a row.[1] He faced two opponents in the August 9 Republican primary, and won with 97 percent of the vote. He was defeated by David Ige (D) in the general election. Duke Aiona lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Aiona got his nickname "Duke," named after Dodgers center-fielder Duke Snider, from his father, James Aiona, Sr. He is of Chinese, Portuguese and Hawaiian descent.
Prior to his election as lieutenant governor in 2002, he was a jurist, serving both as an attorney and a judge for the state.
Biography
Duke Aiona graduated from Saint Louis High School in 1973. Aiona earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific and a juris doctor from the University of Hawai'i in 1981. His career experience includes working as an administrative judge with the Hawai'i Drug Court, a lawyer in private practice, and a radio host with 808 State Update Talk Radio. Aiona has been affiliated with the Aerospace States Association.[2]
Political career
Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii (2002-2010)
Aiona was elected Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in the 2002 general election, on a ticket with Republican gubernatorial nominee, former Mayor of Maui, Linda Lingle. On December 2, 2010, Aiona was sworn in as Hawaii's 10th Lieutenant Governor at an inauguration ceremony at the Hawaii State Capitol rotunda. He and Lingle ran together again in 2010, winning re-election to their second terms in the general election on November 2, 2010.
Noteworthy events
Personal driver's traffic violation
In 2005, Aiona's personal driver was caught on camera breaking a new state law right after Aiona had made a public presentation about that same law. Local ABC affiliate KITV reporter Keoki Kerr reported that after a press conference about a state law that made it illegal to drive a vehicle through a crosswalk with a pedestrian in the crosswalk, news cameras caught Aiona's personal driver almost hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk.
Temper
He was questioned about his temper at his confirmation hearing for the state circuit court bench. Judiciary committee member State Senator Matt Matsunaga asked if Aiona recalled getting kicked out of a lawyer's league basketball game in the late 1980s. Matsunaga was satisfied with the explanation that it was a misunderstanding and voted in favor of the appointment.[3]
Elections
2022
See also: Hawaii gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Hawaii
Joshua Green defeated Duke Aiona in the general election for Governor of Hawaii on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Joshua Green (D) | 63.2 | 261,025 |
 | Duke Aiona (R) | 36.8 | 152,237 | |
| Total votes: 413,262 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Joshua Green | 62.9 | 158,161 |
 | Vicky Cayetano | 20.9 | 52,447 | |
 | Kaiali'i Kahele | 15.0 | 37,738 | |
 | Van Tanabe | 0.5 | 1,236 | |
 | Richard Kim | 0.4 | 991 | |
| David Bourgoin | 0.2 | 590 | |
| Clyde Lewman | 0.1 | 249 | |
| Total votes: 251,412 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kirk Caldwell (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Duke Aiona | 49.6 | 37,608 |
 | BJ Penn | 26.1 | 19,817 | |
 | Gary Cordery | 10.9 | 8,258 | |
 | Heidi Tsuneyoshi | 9.6 | 7,255 | |
 | Lynn Barry Mariano | 1.2 | 903 | |
 | Paul Morgan | 1.0 | 796 | |
 | Keline-Kameyo Kahau | 0.6 | 469 | |
| Walter Woods | 0.6 | 438 | |
| Moses Paskowitz | 0.2 | 189 | |
| George Hawat | 0.2 | 140 | |
| Total votes: 75,873 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Hawaii
No candidate advanced from the primary.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| Keleionalani Taylor | 61.9 | 755 | |
| Caleb Nazara | 38.1 | 464 | |
Vote totals may be incomplete for this race. | ||||
| Total votes: 1,219 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Libertarian primary election
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Gene Tamashiro (L)
- Frank Hinshaw (L)
2014
- See also: Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2014
Aiona ran for election to the office of Governor of Hawaii. He won the Republican nomination in the primary on August 9, and faced David Ige (D), Jeff Davis (L) and Mufi Hannemann (I) in the general election on November 4, 2014.[1] The general election took place on November 4, 2014.
Results
General election
| Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  David Ige/Shan Tsutsui |
49.5% | 181,065 | |
| Republican | Duke Aiona/Elwin Ahu | 37.1% | 135,742 | |
| Independent | Mufi Hannemann/Les Chang | 11.7% | 42,925 | |
| Libertarian | Jeff Davis/Cindy Marlin | 1.7% | 6,393 | |
| Total Votes | 366,125 | |||
| Election results via Hawaii Office of Elections | ||||
Primary election
| Governor of Hawaii, Republican Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
| Duke Aiona |
97.2% | 41,832 | ||
| Stuart Gregory | 1.5% | 640 | ||
| Charles Collins | 1.3% | 580 | ||
| Total Votes | 43,052 | |||
| Election results via Hawaii Division of Elections. | ||||
Race background
Ige defeats Abercrombie
In the Democratic primary election, state Sen. David Ige defeated Gov. Neil Abercrombie.[4][5][6] Prior to this primary, the last governor of Hawaii to lose a re-election campaign was Gov. William Francis Quinn (R) in 1962. Quinn lost to John Anthony Burns (D) in the general election.[7]
The week before the primary was held, a Honolulu Civil Beat poll of likely voters found Ige with 51 percent support to Abercrombie's 41 percent support.[8] Abercrombie was endorsed in the primary by President Barack Obama (D). Ige was endorsed by former governors Ben Cayetano and George Ariyoshi.
A New York Times article written two months before the primary election suggested that Abercrombie faced a more difficult re-election campaign due to his appointment of Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz (D) to the U.S. Senate in December 2012 following the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D). In a letter written before his death, Inouye requested the appointment of Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) to his seat. The article argued that this decision sparked "a backlash that threatens to topple both Mr. Schatz and the governor — who had already been struggling during an occasionally tumultuous first term — in the Democratic primary on Aug. 9."[9]
In the aftermath of the primary, Abercrombie attributed his defeat to his decision to call a special session to legalize gay marriage in November 2013. He claimed that Republican opponents voted for Ige in the open Democratic primary. "Republicans crossed over en masse to vote in the Democratic primary, and then the religious factor came in," Abercrombie said.
Ige supported Abercrombie's decision to call for the special session. A spokeswoman for Ige's campaign, Lynn Kenton, said, "every candidate has the freedom to comment on their campaign, regardless of the outcome, and if that's what Gov. Abercrombie feels was his weaknesses, that would be for him to determine." [10]
Debates
October 15 debate
David Ige (D), Duke Aiona (R), and Mufi Hannemann (I) shared the stage during a debate sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Hannemann criticized Ige and fellow legislators for rising electrical costs and problems faced by the state's public schools. He argued that Hawaii voters should question whether Ige could lead the way after spending 29 years in the legislature as the problems Aiona had pointed to developed. Ige responded that legislators have to reach consensus on major issues and that he was "running for governor because I know I can't do it as a legislator...I have to be governor to make these things work."[11]
Ige asserted that Aiona was selective in referring to his past experience as lieutenant governor, taking credit for some policies of the Lingle Administration while not associating himself with others. Aiona responded that voters could ask a similar question of Ige because he was running on a ticket with sitting Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.[11]
Polls
| Hawaii Governor - General Election | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | David Ige (D) | Duke Aiona (R) | Mufi Hannemann (I) | Other | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS/YouGov October 16-23, 2014 | 54% | 22% | 5% | 0% | 19% | +/-6 | 1,002 | ||||||||||||
| Merriman River October 16-19, 2014 | 40% | 34% | 11% | 6% | 8% | +/-2.8 | 1,221 | ||||||||||||
| New York Times/CBS/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014 | 41% | 35% | 6% | 0% | 18% | +/-4 | 1,319 | ||||||||||||
| Rasmussen September 9-10, 2014 | 40% | 39% | 14% | 2% | 6% | +/-4 | 750 | ||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 43.75% | 32.5% | 9% | 2% | 12.75% | +/-4.2 | 1,073 | ||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Primary election
| Governor of Hawaii - Democratic Primary | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Neil Abercrombie* | David Ige | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group (Survey of likely voters) July 24-28, 2014 | 41% | 51% | 8% | +/-3.3 | 895 | ||||||||||||||
| Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group June 7-9, 2014 | 37% | 48% | 15% | +/-3.0 | 729 | ||||||||||||||
| Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group February 12-15, 2014 | 37% | 37% | 26% | +/-3.1 | 643 | ||||||||||||||
| Honolulu Star-Advertiser February 1-11, 2014 | 47% | 38% | 14% | +/-4.3 | 528 | ||||||||||||||
| AVERAGES | 40.5% | 43.5% | 15.75% | +/-3.43 | 698.75 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
General Election Hypothetical Match-up
| Three way match-up (includes Hannemann) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Neil Abercrombie* (D) | Duke Aiona (R) | Mufi Hannemann (I) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||||||
| Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group June 7-9, 2014 | 27% | 33% | 22% | +/-3.0 | 1,078 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| Abercrombie vs. Aiona | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Neil Abercrombie* (D) | Duke Aiona (R) | Undecided | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||||||||
| Honolulu Star-Advertiser February 1-11, 2014 | 40% | 48% | 12% | +/-3.9 | 642 | ||||||||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
2010
Aiona faced Neil Abercrombie (D), Daniel H. Cunningham (Free Energy) and Tom Pollard (Non-Partisan) in the general election on November 2, 2010. Abercrombie won the election, with 58% of the vote to Aiona's 41%.[12]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Duke Aiona did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Aiona’s campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
KEY ISSUES TO ADDRESS
|
” |
| —Duke Aiona’s campaign website (2022)[14] | ||
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
In 1977, while attending law school, he met Vivian Welsh at a dance in Waikīkī. They married in 1982.[15] They have two sons, Kulia and Makana; and two daughters, Ohulani and Kaimilani. In 1998, he retired from his position as a state circuit judge, stating that the $87,000 annual salary was not enough to support his family. In 2005, the annual salary he received as lieutenant governor was $90,041.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Duke Aiona for Governor 2014 Official campaign website, "Homepage," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ Duke Aiona, "About Duke," accessed July 24, 2022
- ↑ The Honolulu Star Advertiser, "Special election 2002," October 24, 2002
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "2014 Governor Races, Ratings Map," accessed June 30, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Division of Elections, "Primary Election 2014 Results - Final Summary Report," accessed May 7, 2021
- ↑ Politico, "Schatz-Hanabusa race too close to call," August 10, 2014
- ↑ Honolulu Civil Beat, "Ige Holds Healthy Lead Over Abercrombie in Hawaii Governor’s Race," June 12, 2014
- ↑ Honolulu Civil Beat, "Civil Beat Poll: Ige Maintains Solid Lead Over Abercrombie," July 31, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "A Disregarded Request From a Beloved Senator Shakes Up Hawaii’s Primary," June 29, 2014
- ↑ USA Today, "Hawaii gov. blames political loss on gay marriage," August 30, 2014
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Hawaii News Now, "Final televised governor debate had winner and loser, analyst says," October 16, 2014
- ↑ "GOP Now ‘Endangered Species’ in Hawaii: Democrats Win Big, Taking Governorship, Congressional Seat from GOP," Hawaii Reporter, November 3, 2010
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Duke Aiona’s campaign website, “Home,” accessed September 27, 2022
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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