Republican campaign contributors have a clear favorite for governor in the Aug. 11 primary — state Rep. Andria Tupola.

Donors gave the GOP candidate $147,000 during the first six months of this year, according to her finance reports filed Thursday with the state Campaign Spending Commission.

Former state lawmaker John Carroll, a retired lawyer, raised $32,000 during the same period. And the only other Republican candidate, former Department of Education assistant superintendent Ray L’Heureux, brought in about $3,000.

Stewart Yerton/Civil Beat

Tupola received campaign donations from around the state and parts of the mainland, including $6,000 from PVT Land Company’s Ben Yamamoto of Honolulu; $5,000 from Freeway Plaza LLC, based in Salt Lake City, Utah; and $5,000 from the D.C.-based OrrinPAC, a political action committee set up by U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah.

She has spent much of her campaign money hosting events to raise more campaign money. On June 30, for instance, she spent $21,000 to rent space at the Four Season Resort at Ko Olina for a fundraising dinner, where the 10-seat “Platinum Table” cost $10,000 and featured the donor’s ads in the program and logo on the table.

Most of L’Heureux’s contributions came from a loan to himself and half of Carroll’s donations are essentially in-kind contributions to himself for items like office rent and a copier.

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