Regardless of the particular island you might call home, please take a moment and read the below. We need to stand together TODAY to help and support Keani Rawlins-Fernandez.

Of all the candidates running for elective office in 2020, Maui Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez is one of our brightest lights and strongest leaders. She’s presently Vice-Chair of the Maui County Council and also heads the Economic Development and Budget Committee (EDB) Committee. Her list of accomplishments are prodigious given the short two years she has held elective office.

Keani is a true servant leader, who walks the talk. Her personal mission statement:

“My mission is to advance far-sighted, progressive policies to ensure that our precious families are not priced out of Hawai‘i and that our environment is protected for future generations, as our kūpuna did before us. I will use my position to invest in education, affordable housing, and the local economy, in order to keep Maui County a place where the next generation can create a vibrant future for us all.”

It’s no wonder that the good ole boys on Maui want her out.

According to public campaign spending reports, the National Association of Realtors Fund in Chicago has so far spent over $60,000 supporting her opponent. An additional “dark money SuperPac” being operated out of Reno, Nevada has also committed spending over $100,000 to take out Councilmember Rawlins-Fernandez and some of her fellow Councilmembers.

Needless to say, all of the above-referenced money comes from unknown donors, much of it no doubt funneled from Wailuku to Reno only to come back to Maui in the form of mass-mail and radio ads spreading misinformation, rumor, and innuendo.

It’s disgusting really.

Where Maui goes, so goes the rest of Hawaiʻi and we must not let them win.

We need to step up today to help Keani.

Yes, many of our candidate friends on all islands need help, but today at this particular moment in time – we need to support Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez.

Will you join me today in helping her with an online contribution? Whether it is $20, $100, or $200, your help is needed now, prior to October 21st. For the record, unlike the dark money, the names of all donors of $100 or more will be made public.

I am sending in $100 and my goal is that at least 100 others reading this email will join me. This will allow Keani to make one last strong push during the upcoming critical final week of the election.

We cannot let the bad guys win. Please, today if you can, send Keani Rawlins-Fernandez a little kōkua in the form of an online campaign contribution. There are only two weeks left and she needs our help now to push back against the bullies of Reno, Chicago…and yes Wailuku. Funds must be received asap and no later than October 21st in time to purchase the last burst of advertising for that crucial final week of voting.

Councilmember Rawlins-Fernandez is eminently qualified. She was born and raised on Molokai, speaks Hawaiian, and is intimately connected to the ‘aina, the history and the culture of Hawaiʻi. She is a University of Hawaiʻi graduate with a master’s degree in business administration AND a law degree from the Richardsons School of Law. Keani and her husband Makena Fernandez have two young children and live on Molokai.

Trust me on this. Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez is the real deal. All Hawaiʻi will benefit from her reelection and continued service in public office.

In the past, the dark money and the off-shore dealmakers did not interfere to any great extent with neighbor-island races. We need to send out a strong message that they are not welcome here, not on Maui, nor anywhere in Hawaiʻi.

To be clear the Reno SuperPac is attempting a total takeover of the Maui County Council.

Also being targeted and at risk are Councilmembers Kelly King, Shane Sineci, Tamara Paltin, and Gabe Johnson – Gabe is a newcomer to politics and running for an open seat on the Council. All are good people, all are good public servants, and all deserve and need your help and support.

Finally, as if taking over the entire County Council was not enough, the greedy dark money guys want to kill all 7 proposed Charter Amendments.

Councilmember Kelly King has written an excellent short piece explaining the Charter Amendments and exposing the misinformation, and outright lies being told by…actually no one knows who is telling the lies because the actual source of the money and the names of the people putting out the false information…all continue to remain hidden in the shadows.

The Maui Independent has an excellent and short overview “Mainland SuperPacs And Old Guard Sellouts Try To Stop Important Charter Amendments”

The election is just two weeks away. Please consider helping Councilmember Keani Rawlins-Fernandez. If you are able, please help our other friends on Maui as well. It’s important.

Sincerely,

Gary Hooser