Hawaii has only four electoral votes and is never really a factor in presidential elections.

As soon as local polls close at 7 p.m. HST on election day in November, the race is usually called — although that could be different this year, thanks to the large number of voters nationwide voting by mail, including nearly everyone in the islands.

Still, people in Hawaii pay close attention to presidential politics, and many residents generously contribute to the leading candidates.

Open Secrets from the Center for Responsive Politics tracks money in politics and its impact on elections and policy. Now that the national conventions are pau, where does Hawaii stand?

As of Friday there were 361 donors from the islands giving money to Joe Biden — the former vice president and Democratic Party nominee — in the 2020 election.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, had 257 Hawaii donors.

You can look up the names of donors and their contribution amounts yourself, of course, but here’s a list of who caught my eye. The occupations listed were self-identified.

Trump Donors

  • Adrienne King, attorney, $2,500
  • Ian Sandison, Watanabe Ing, $1,238
  • Joni Metzler, Realtor, $1,800
  • Allen Frenzel, USDA, $650
  • Paul Gill, Hawaiian Airlines, $2,800
  • Nancy Cabral, real estate manager, $375
  • Katherine Davenport, US Navy, $221
  • Dale Evans, Charleys Taxi, $375
  • Michael Twigg-Smith, builder, $250

Of note: Katherine Davenport is not the same person as Kathleen Davenport, a retired U.S. Air Force officer who ran unsuccessfully for City Council District 1 this year.

King, who has run for office in Hawaii as a Republican, said she donated to Trump “because I support him and I think I should put my money where my mouth is. He speaks to me, and I think he speaks to a lot of people. He is a phenomenon and he has brought a lot of people together.”

Evans said she supports the president because “he gets things done.”

“We have a lot of danger from the Chinese and all over the world,” she said. “The international problems are very bad, and I think Trump is changing things. He is moving away from our old policies which were proven to be wrong. So, I just think we need to go his way.”

Evans said she is also supportive of the president’s views on law and order, socialism and communism, abortion and school choice.

Biden Donors

  • Mark Fukunaga, Servco Pacific, $1,000
  • Dawn Lippert, Emerson Collective, $250
  • Jeffrey Portnoy, Cades Schutte, $1,000
  • Patricia Blanchette, University Health Partners of Hawaii, $500
  • Colbert Matsumoto, Island Holdings, $1,000
  • Jeffrey Stone, landowner master planner, $7,200
  • Nan Shin, Nan Inc, $8,400
  • Lorraine Inouye, Hawaii Senate, $250
  • Blake Oshiro, Capitol Consultants of Hawaii, $500
  • Walter Dods, director, $250
  • Ian Mattoch, attorney, $500
  • Peter Merriman, BC restaurant operator, $250
  • Mark Davis, Davis Levin Livingston, $2,800
  • Karl Rhoads, State of Hawaii, $500
  • Loretta Sheehan, Davis Levin Livingston, $500
  • Walter Kirimitsu, arbitrator/mediator, $250
  • Jennifer Sabas, consultant, $500
  • Joan Bennet, business, $1,000
  • Barbara Ankersmit, Anthology Marketing, $250

Oshiro, a former state House Majority Leader and a frequent contributor to political campaigns, told me, “I have been extremely disappointed with our current president and all of his decisions over the last three and a half years, and I am strongly concerned about the direction and future or our national politics.”

Of note: The Federal Election Commission limits individual contributions to presidential candidates in an election cycle to $2,800. The excessive contributions of Shin and Stone noted above will in all likelihood be adjusted.

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