Duke Aiona announces gubernatorial run
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Jun. 16—James "Duke " Aiona, a former Circuit Court judge who served as lieutenant governor, announced Wednesday his latest run to become governor as a Republican.
Aiona officially declared his intention last week on the last day to file papers for his candidacy.
He served two terms as former Gov. Linda Lingle's lieutenant governor and ran unsuccessfully against eventual winner Gov. Neil Abercrombie and then against current Gov. David Ige.
In a statement Wednesday, Aiona said that "like many, I believe that we have lost our way as a nation and a state. Our moral compass is broken, we have lost our Spirit of Aloha."
He blamed a spate of corruption cases on the "result of the dominance by one political party. Moreover, the issues that were raised when I ran for governor in 2010 and 2014 remain—our high cost of living, lack of affordable housing, homelessness, and education, to name a few. In short, nothing has changed ! Things have only gotten worse !"
In the Aug. 13 primary election, Aiona faces Republican contenders Gary Cordery, George "Big Al " Hawat, Keline Kahau, Lynn Barry Mariano, Paul Morgan, Moses "Momo " Paskowitz, BJ Penn, Heidi Haunani Tsuneyoshi and Walter Woods.
