

Tracey Ryan

The Hawaii LP has placed 17 candidates on the Aug. 9 primary election ballot.

This is the highest number of candidates that the state party has ever run.

The LPHI has candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. senator, 1 of the 2 U.S. House races, 5 of the state Senate seats, and 8 of the races for state representative.

If the 13 candidates for the state legislature can total 2 percent of the vote for all 64 legislative races, the party will retain ballot access for 2016. 5 of these 13 candidates will have one-on-one races, so reaching the 2 percent threshold is a possibility, and if that threshold is reached the party would not have to petition to be on the ballot in 2016.

“We put 17 candidates on the ballot this year. Ten of them were in head to head elections including Anthony Higa in House 19, our most electable candidate in years,” said LPHI chair Tracey Ryan.

“Five days before the filing deadline a group of Republicans jumped into these races so only five remain as head-to-head contests against incumbent Democrats,” she said. “Anthony now faces a three-way race. How many votes will be taken away by the entry of an underfunded GOP candidate remains to be seen. We remain confident, as we have an active candidate, money, and a good district to run in.”

Details at Ballot Access News.