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Governor Green Advocates for Extended Appointment Period

You are currently viewing Governor Green Advocates for Extended Appointment Period
  • Post category:News

Governor Josh Green is urging a revision in the procedure for filling legislative vacancies after he had to appoint a new senator for Waianae just days before the primary election. The existing law mandates that the governor must make an appointment within 60 days of a vacancy. When former Senator Maile Shimabukuro resigned in late May, she endorsed Representative Cedric Gates, who was both running for her position and included on the shortlist of potential replacements.

Initially, Green planned to delay announcing an appointment until after the primary election to avoid impacting the results. However, on Tuesday, he appointed Cross Crabbe, Gates’ office manager and a candidate for the House seat Gates currently holds. Gates and Stacelynn Eli, the other options, are competing in the Senate District 22 primary election.

Green explained in a press release that his constitutional duty to support fair elections left him with no choice but to appoint Crabbe to maintain election integrity. He plans to introduce legislation to extend the appointment period from 60 to 120 days to prevent governors from influencing election outcomes with their appointments.

There have been several attempts in recent years to reform this process, such as by conducting special elections for replacements, but all proposals have failed.

The current system requires the governor to choose from a shortlist of three candidates provided by the political party of the departing lawmaker, in this case, the Democratic Party. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, while half of U.S. states fill vacancies through special elections, Hawaii is one of 11 states where the governor appoints replacements.

Historically, Hawaii’s approach has evolved. In 1959, the state decided to fill legislative vacancies through special elections. This changed in 1963, granting appointment authority to the governor with the condition that replacements belong to the same political party as the predecessor. In 2007, the process was revised again to allow political parties to submit a list of potential candidates to the governor.

The catalyst for this 2007 change was an incident in 2005 when Governor Linda Lingle appointed Bev Harbin, who registered as a Democrat shortly before replacing a resigning representative. Since the law changed in 2007, at least 17 House and nine Senate vacancies have been filled this way.

Each political party determines its method for selecting the three candidates submitted to the governor. For Democrats, a council of elected party members from each House district compiles the shortlist, typically through public interviews and meetings. Bart Dame, a long-time party official, noted that these district council seats often remain unfilled until a vacancy arises, leading to a last-minute scramble. Party chairs have attempted to prevent councils from manipulating membership to influence nominations.

In House District 1, Democrats plan to meet at Honokaa High School to select potential replacements for Representative Mark Nakash

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