While Ed Case is out of touch with Hawaii, Sergio will fight for working class
Posted: June 7, 2022
The Hawaii State Teachers Association is excited to announce our support for Sergio Alcubilla for Hawaii’s First Congressional District, which covers most of Oahu, from Makapuu through central Honolulu and Leeward to Mililani, Waipahu, Ewa, and Kapolei.
“Sergio Alcubilla has been deeply involved in Hawaii communities as an attorney and nonprofit leader supporting the working class and public schools,” said HSTA President Osa Tui, Jr. “He strongly believes that our public schools need our support as they are teaching our future. He supports labor rights and unions, and as an attorney, he advocates for community members who are struggling to ensure everyone has a voice.”
HSTA recommends candidates who are strong supporters of public education, our educators, labor, and are committed to creating a better future for our keiki. Candidates were sent questionnaires in January, and were interviewed by HSTA’s Government Relations Committee (GRC) in February. The GRC is made up of volunteer member leaders from each of HSTA’s 12 chapters across the state of Hawaii.
Based on those responses and the interviews, the committee recommended Sergio to the HSTA Board of Directors. Board members then sent their recommendation to the National Education Association, which made a final decision to support him in the congressional race.
An immigrant who relied on public schools for education, he has a long record of serving others
Born in Iloilo City, Philippines, Sergio immigrated to the United States with his mother at age 7 after his father, a military police officer, was assassinated by a communist hit squad during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
Educated at public schools in Virginia and Florida, Sergio knows the struggles of working families firsthand and has devoted his life to helping others. Following his graduation from the University of Florida with a double major in political science and economics, he dedicated the next several years of his life to a more peaceful world following the 9/11 attacks. He enrolled in seminary school where he earned a master’s degree in religious education and interfaith peacebuilding.
He also volunteered with nonprofit youth groups and worked with local churches and sports programs to develop peace-centered community service programs in high-conflict areas, such as Oakland, California; Palestine, Israel; and Estonia.
Sergio came to Hawaii in 2010 to attend the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaii. While still in law school, he began working at the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, a nonprofit, public interest law firm where he focused on providing legal help to the most vulnerable in our community. After earning his law degree, he worked for Legal Aid for nearly a decade as an attorney and director of external relations.
Like many of Hawaii’s educators, Sergio held a second job to help his family make ends meet. He worked part time as a sales associate at the Waikiki Macy’s store for more than three years.
He serves on various committees of the Hawaii Access to Justice Commission, is a board director of the Hawaii Filipino Lawyers Association and is a past board director of the Filipino Young Leaders Program. He also is a volunteer and board director with the Hawaii Workers Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of low-wage workers.
Learn more about Sergio on his campaign website and watch this video.
Sergio is a devoted husband to Hiromi Iida, a nurse originally from Iwate, Japan. He is the loving father to Aina, his 10-year-old daughter, and Sergio IV, his 8-year-old son, both students at an Oahu public school where Sergio has enjoyed volunteering with the PTA for the last several years.
Sergio will be an effective advocate for educators, public schools
Sergio believes it is important that we invest in the next generation and prioritize the education of our children and grandchildren.
“This begins with supporting our teachers and schools,” he writes on his campaign website.
“In Hawaii, we continue to grapple with teacher shortages as many teachers struggle to do the work that they love while also making ends meet,” he continues. “The average annual salary for an elementary school teacher in Hawaii is slightly less than the national average, which is not nearly enough to live in Hawaii — the state with the highest cost of living in the country. I will push for increasing teacher pay and benefits, similar to how we take care of our military personnel, with an emphasis on increasing homeownership for our teachers.”
Why Ed Case is out of touch with Hawaii, not aligned with his own political party
While the HSTA previously supported Ed Case, the incumbent U.S. representative in Oahu’s First Congressional District, the union now prefers to support Sergio, whose values more closely align with Hawaii’s people.
Earlier this spring, the HSTA Board of Directors approved a measure expressing disappointment in Case, who co-chairs the Blue Dog Coalition, made up of Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives who identify as centrists or conservatives.
“Case acknowledged he worked with the Blue Dog Coalition in Congress to leverage their disproportionate power to delay the passage of the Build Back Better Act and supported efforts to delink the bill from an important infrastructure bill in the U.S. House,” said HSTA President Tui. “These actions ended the child tax credit and meant that key priorities such as universal pre-kindergarten, paid family leave, and lower drug prices did not come to fruition.”
Blue Dog Democrats are on the decline nationally as the working class continues to see the rich get richer while working-class families struggle more and more just to make ends meet. Sergio Alcubilla is dedicated to advocating for working families who continue to see their purchasing power decline.
The Hawaii Democratic Party in January passed a resolution expressing disappointment with Case, noting that “the actions of Congressman Ed Case with regard to the passage of Build Back Better legislation do not reflect the values and principles of the Democratic Party of Hawaii as outlined in our platform, prior adopted resolutions, and mission statement.” Last September, a poll found 77% of Hawaii voters wanted their member of Congress to support the plan. Only after outcries from constituents and others, Case finally voted in favor of the bill, which was greatly watered down and had little chance of making it through the Senate.
Less recent events emphasize how out of touch Ed Case is. In January 2019, he proclaimed that he was an “Asian trapped in a white body.” Case is not Asian and quickly had to apologize for his remarks.
Ed Case continues to rake in outside campaign cash to try to buy this election. Hawaii’s voters need to elect someone who represents their interests and not those of corporations who continue to fund his campaign as he puts up roadblocks in President Biden’s agenda.
Sergio Alcubilla is running a grassroots campaign with the support of his family and has pledged not to fund his campaign with corporate money:
“This campaign will be people-centered and people-powered. Our politics does not have to belong to the rich and the privileged. It belongs to people like you and me. I have pledged not to take corporate 💵 and need your help to win this!”
The Hawaii State Teachers Association is proud to recommend Sergio Alcubilla for Hawaii’s First Congressional District. Please encourage your friends and family to join all of us in supporting his campaign. He deserves your vote and the vote of all who want to see a fighter for the well-being of Hawaii’s people.
How you can support Sergio Alcubilla’s congressional campaign
During the months ahead, we will ask our members to show their support for Sergio by volunteering at various campaign events, such as sign waving. If you want to get more involved with Sergio’s grassroots campaign, you can sign up here.
HSTA’s Government Relations Committee and Board of Directors are still finalizing recommendations for Hawaii’s Second Congressional District, which covers rural Oahu and the neighbor islands, as well as state legislative races. We will announce those soon.
