August 17, 2008

A recent letter to the editor by supporters of Republican Ted Hong published in the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald (Sun., 8/17/08) made conclusions based on inaccurate calculations. The statement by Rep. Takamine that “…more than 80% of this reporting period’s contributions were from people who gave $100 or less,” is correct.

The Facts:

-    846 total donors in this reporting period
-    703 of the 846 or 83% were $100 or less
-    78% of the contributions received from donors who gave over $100 came from non-unions, businesses and individuals

The calculations made by Hong’s supporters failed to account for the fact that the Campaign Spending Commission’s reports that are available online do not list all the contributions of less than $100.

Dylan Nonaka made the same error and published his erroneous conclusions in a letter to the editor in the Hawai’i Free Press (2/21/08). The Friends of Dwight Takamine has accounted for every name and contribution as required by law.

Based on these numbers, I believe this is reflective of the grassroots nature of his support that Rep. Takamine has received down through the years and into this campaign to become the next State Senator from District 1.

Curtis Takai

Campaign Treasurer