Member actions helped propel education-friendly candidates forward
Posted: August 15, 2022
Hawaii’s Democratic nominees for governor and lieutenant governor were among the political candidates recommended by the Hawaii State Teachers Association who thanked educators for their grassroots support following victories in Saturday’s Primary Election.
Lt. Gov. Josh Green soundly defeated his opponents in the gubernatorial Democratic primary. After election returns showed Green with three times as many votes as his next closest competitor, he thanked HSTA members for their work on his behalf.
“Teacher support meant the world because all of our lives through our children come through our teachers. And when the teachers endorse you, you feel that they believe in you and they believe that you know what’s the right thing to do for their children,” Green said after the first printout Saturday showed him with a commanding lead.
“So as we support our teachers, we make Hawaii better. We make America better. So that endorsement is a profoundly uplifting endorsement. And I will never be able to thank HSTA enough. It’s incredible,” Green added.
State Rep. Sylvia Luke emerged from a tough fight for the Democratic lieutenant governor’s nomination. While polls showed the former state House Finance chair was neck-and-neck with her closest competitors, she beat her next closest rival by nearly eight percentage points.
“I just wanted to thank all my supporters. HSTA, especially the teachers’ union, helped so much in this election. If it wasn’t for grassroots, we wouldn’t be in this place right now. I’m just so thankful that we can continue to work together and, you know, really appreciate the hard work of every single one of the educators,” Luke said Saturday night.
“Mahalo to Osa (Osa Tui, HSTA president), mahalo HSTA, and mahalo to every single one of the educators who believed in me and supported this campaign. I have so much gratitude and I’m going to work hard to make sure that I continue to work hard for every single one of you,” said Luke.
During the primary campaign, HSTA sent out a special email blast, web story, and video to all its members, reminding them of Luke’s strong support for educators and recommending that they ignore the unfair and inaccurate attacks on Luke’s character by a political action committee that spent millions supporting one of her opponents.
From L: HSTA Executive Director Ann Mahi, Lt. Gov. Josh Green, State Rep. Sylvia Luke, HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr., HSTA Deputy Executive Director Andrea Eshelman at Green’s watch party Saturday night.
Green and Luke benefited from strong HSTA grassroots efforts on all islands, most of them focused on sign waving. The HSTA also posted live streams on its social media channels of news conferences announcing its support for numerous candidates, including Green and Luke.
The two candidates will be on the ballot in this November’s general election when the HSTA will again urge its members and all other voters in the state to back them.
From L: HSTA Executive Director Ann Mahi, Former state Sen. Jill Tokuda and HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. celebrate at Tokuda’s watch party Saturday night at Castle High School’s cafeteria. All three are Castle grads. Knight pride!
Longtime Kaneohe State Sen. Jill Tokuda resoundingly defeated five opponents to win the Democratic nomination for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional seat to represent rural Oahu and the neighbor islands in Congress.
Tokuda, whose campaign was also the victim of inaccurate smear campaigns from mainland political action groups, garnered more than twice as many votes as her closest opponent in the Democratic primary. During the campaign, HSTA reminded its members via email and on social media of Tokuda’s strong record supporting educators and advised them to ignore the untruthful and bizarre attacks she faced in TV and radio ads, and on social media.
The HSTA announced its support for Tokuda in a live-streamed news conference in July.
State House Speaker Scott Saiki beat back a challenger to his Downtown/Kakaako seat to win the Democratic primary for House District 25.
Besides sign waving for Saiki, the HSTA highlighted Saiki and Luke in an Unretirement Party news conference live streamed in late July. The event also featured veteran teachers who are postponing retirement because lawmakers and Gov. David Ige agreed to fix salary compression, which has unfairly kept many teachers’ pay low for a decade or more.
Former HSTA President Corey Rosenlee, a social studies teacher at Campbell High, bested two other candidates to win the Democratic primary race for House District 39, representing Royal Kunia, Waipahu, and West Loch.
HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. said, “Election results have an enormous impact on our communities and our public schools, on our members and their well-being, and on our keiki who deserve equitable and well-funded public schools.”
“Your participation is vitally important in races ranging from those we send to Congress down to those we send to our county councils. With friends of education in elected positions, HSTA can help to advocate for stronger public schools, better housing options, and competitive wages amongst a myriad of issues facing our members,” Tui said.
Here is a summary of the Primary Election results.
Primary Election winners advance to the General Election, which will be held on Nov. 8. Voters statewide should receive their ballots in the mail by Oct. 21.
Register to vote for the General Election by Oct. 31 at any time using the Online Voter Registration System or in-person at voter service centers which will open on Oct. 25, ten days before the Nov. 8 election.