Past Hawaii governors also hit nomination roadblocks

Mar. 30—Since statehood, no first-term governor has had more Cabinet nominees rejected than Gov. Josh Green.

Since statehood, no first-term governor has had more Cabinet nominees rejected than Gov. Josh Green.

But other governors in their first terms have seen their share of roughed-up nominees.

In March 1995, then-Gov. Ben Cayetano called a news conference to complain about a Senate committee asking tough and detailed questions of three of his Cabinet nominees. He accused then-Sen. Malama Solomon, who chaired the Senate Executive Appointments Committee, of expecting trade-offs from Cayetano for confirming his appointees.

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Solomon denied the allegations, threatened to sue Cayetano for slander and said she also was going to consider filing a complaint with the state Ethics Commission. In the end, all of Cayetano's 16 Cabinet appointments were confirmed.

Three other governors—John Burns, George Ariyoshi and John Waihee—all had their initial nominees confirmed in their first terms.

Former Govs. Neil Abercrombie and Linda Lingle each had one nominee back out before a Senate committee hearing.

Green's predecessor, Ige, had one nominee go down in his first term : Carleton Ching, an executive with development firm Castle & Cooke Inc. whom Ige appointed to head the Department of Land and Natural Resources.