Super PACs Tire Of Spending Big On Candidates As Election Nears
Many candidates in Hawaiʻi won their races in the primary or face little opposition in November and just don’t need to raise money anymore.
October 4, 2026 · 6 min read
About the Authors
With one month left before the Nov. 3 general election, candidates and political action committees are continuing to raise and spend tens of thousands of dollars in their election-year efforts to woo voters.
But the latest round of reports, filed Thursday with the Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission, reflect another Hawaiʻi trend — that the frenzied chase for campaign cash slows considerably after the primary as most candidates in this overwhelmingly Democratic state have either won their seats outright or face only token opposition from the few Republicans and handful of third-party candidates left standing.
Even the big money PACs and super PACs are now turning to writing their checks to support ballot issues while winding down candidate contributions. The Hawaiʻi Regional Council of Carpenters, arguably the state’s most prolific campaign contributor, spent millions before the Aug. 8 primary through its super PAC called For A Better Tomorrow and saw most of its candidates prevail.
After the primary, the Carpenters Union created a new super PAC — RISE Together Hawaiʻi — and is focusing its considerable financial resources to push a ballot measure that would allow counties to raise money for infrastructure development and repair through special bond sales.
Before the primary, the Carpenters Union spent nearly $2 million on advertising, mailers, polling and other efforts to support Derek Kawakami’s successful primary bid for lieutenant governor. In addition to bolstering Kawakami’s campaign, For A Better Tomorrow also spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on about two dozen candidates running for the Legislature and city and county races.
In the most recent reporting period, which began the day after the primary and ended Sept. 26, the super PAC reported taking in another $343,000 from the carpenters and spending $1.14 million on polling and other campaign activities. But this time, the only candidate it lists as supporting is Yuki Lei Sugimura, who is in a close race for Maui mayor against incumbent Richard Bissen. Electioneering reports filed separately with the Campaign Spending Commission show the PAC spending $653,575 with various mainland political firms in support of her.
The new super PAC — RISE Together Hawaiʻi — is also getting some cash infusions from other special interest groups. While the Carpenters Union has contributed $1.5 million of its total $1.8 million, the Operating Engineers Local 3 kicked in $100,000 as did the Hawaiʻi Realtors PAC and another $125,000 came from the Hawaiʻi Laborers Union PAC.
The top state races for governor and lieutenant governor continued to attract the most campaign donors. But that’s not surprising given the regular fundraisers Gov. Josh Green and Kawakami have been doing.
The most recent finance reports show a blowout when it comes to the race for campaign cash by the Democratic candidates. They raised millions more than the Republican candidates — Gary Cordery for governor and Daniel Anthony, his LG running mate. While Cordery has collected a bit more than $400,000 this election cycle, Anthony has brought in only $24,714 and just $5,800 since he won the Aug. 8 primary.
The state legislator who has raised the most is Rachele Lamosao, records show. She was appointed last year to the state Senate District 19 seat when Henry Aquino left to become a lobbyist. She’s trying to hang on to it against a challenge by GOP Rep. Elijah Pierick.
If campaign cash is any indication, Lamosao is way ahead, bringing in nearly $181,000 this election cycle to Pierick’s $46,376.
Candidates raised a total of $1.1 million in this last period, and spent about the same amount on their campaigns. PACs brought in $5.5 million and paid out $5.7 million in expenses.
The races for the mayors of Maui and Kauaʻi didn’t get as much attention in the run-up to the August primary, mainly because both counties have run-offs in November for the top two finishers in the primary. It was no surprise that Bissen and Sugimura and Carvalho and Rapozo advanced to the November ballot.
But political observers were buzzing that Bissen, who had been under fire for his handling of the Maui fires in 2023 and housing issues, came out ahead in the primary. Now, he and Sugimura are close in the amount of campaign money they have been able to raise. Both got help in the primary from independent expenditures made by super PACs. But so far it’s the Carpenters Union that is making a big push for Sugimura — the more than $650,000 by For A Better Tomorrow exceeds even the $529,000 she’s raised for her own campaign.
So far there are no electioneering reports filed by independent Bissen supporters.
In just the last couple months, ballot issue committees have formed to promote amendments to the state constitution and city and county charters that voters will be asked to decide as part of the Nov. 3 ballot.
In addition to RISE Together, which is supporting the statewide Question 2 on bonds for infrastructure, a few others have directed much smaller amounts of money to their issues.
FairVote Action is working to persuade voters to pass a proposed amendment to the Honolulu Charter that would implement a ranked-choice voting system for Honolulu mayor, prosecutor and council members. FairVote is a national organization that advocates for voting reform.
The Hawaiʻi Foodbank is working in support of a Honolulu Charter amendment that would set aside property tax revenue into a fund that would pay for programs to help people who need assistance with food.
And the Hawaiʻi Data Collaborative is backing a measure to bolster how data is created and managed by Honolulu officials in another Honolulu Charter amendment.
Sign up for our FREE morning newsletter and face each day more informed.
Local reporting when you need it most
Support timely, accurate, independent journalism.
Honolulu Civil Beat is a nonprofit organization, and your donation helps us produce local reporting that serves all of Hawaii.
ContributeAbout the Authors