The Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA) and the National Education Association (NEA) are proud to recommend Lt. Gov. Doug Chin for election to Hawaii’s 1st congressional district.
During the primary contest, there have been many qualified candidates running to represent urban Oahu in Congress who have gained the support of our members. As polls have shown, this has essentially become a two-person race. Now the choice is clear about who will be the best person to represent all the people of Hawaii: Lt. Gov. Doug Chin.
“Throughout his tenure as Hawaii attorney general, Doug Chin showed he has the courage to fight for the education our keiki deserve and stand up against bullies,” said HSTA President Corey Rosenlee.
Doug Chin is the right choice to protect Hawaii’s values
When President Trump banned immigrants from Muslim-majority countries, Doug Chin sued to protect those who were being banned based on their religion. That case went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in Trump v. Hawaii. Doug Chin led the attorneys general of 18 states and Washington, D.C. to stand up against President Trump’s attempt to bar transgendered service members from military service. Chin also fought against discrimination by working to protect DACA grantees, the DREAMers who came to the United States as children.
“Doug Chin supports increased federal funding for public education, including raising teacher salaries and lowering class sizes,” Rosenlee said. “At the same time, he is willing to stand up against Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ attempt to use public money for vouchers and for-profit charter schools. He also took on DeVos to keep sexual assault protections on college campuses.”
“Doug Chin is also willing to stand up for workers and unions that have been under attack by supporting the right of collective bargaining, and fighting against the Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME,” Rosenlee added.
Ed Case is no friend of working-class families
At the same time, the other leading contender in the 1st congressional race, Ed Case, “has consistently chosen corporations over worker rights,” Rosenlee said.
He has served as senior vice president of one of the largest non-union hotel corporations in Hawaii which paid him a salary last year of almost $830,000.
“While in Congress, Ed Case voted to approve tax breaks for the rich by extending the capital gains tax cut that he admitted was ‘a tax cut that favors the upper incomes,’” Rosenlee added.
During his time in Congress, Ed Case received tens of thousands of dollars in donations from corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta, defense contractors, Wall Street and oil companies. By contrast, Doug Chin has pledged not to take corporate money to fund his campaigns, so the people of Hawaii know he will work only for them, not corporate special interests.
Doug Chin has devoted his life to public service, spending 13 years as a deputy Honolulu city prosecutor and rising to the role of chief deputy prosecutor and later acting prosecutor. He then served as managing director of the City and County of Honolulu under Mayor Peter Carlisle. In that position, Chin was responsible for 23 city departments and roughly 10,000 employees with an annual operating budget of $2 billion. He then spent three years as Hawaii attorney general, serving as the state’s top law enforcement officer before becoming lieutenant governor.
“There are few people in the country who have done more than Doug Chin to take on the Trump administration. He will be a strong leader who will stand up for Hawaii’s working people and will advocate for a strong public education system,” Rosenlee said.