KYLE YAMASHITA
Running for: State Representative, District 12 (Kula, Makawao, Olinda, Pukalani, Pulehu, Ulupalakua)
Running against: Ekolu Kalama
Birthplace: Honolulu, HI
Profession: Incumbent (Superstop II General Manager)
Electoral Win/Loss Record: 4/1
First electoral victory: 2004
Supports: Organized labor, health care reform, increasing broadband speeds
Opposes: Raising property taxes
Gets campaign donations from: Outrigger Enterprises, Inc., Hawaii Association of Realtors, Hawaii State Teachers Association, HMSA Employee PAC, Alexander & Baldwin Inc. PAC, Oceanic Time Warner Cable PAC, ILWU Local 142, gambling lobbyists John Radcliffe and G.A. “Red” Morris
Democrat Kyle Yamashita’s a hard one to pin down. He’s been in the Legislature since 2005, but doesn’t chair any committees. He rarely makes headlines, and doesn’t even seem to be operating a campaign website or Facebook page. He introduces bills that do things like prohibiting minors from buying tobacco and alcohol or requiring counties to establish standards for the use of reclaimed “gray” water. In 2010, perhaps sensing vulnerability, Republican challenger Laurie Rinaldi made a (for Maui) rare attack on Yamashita by telling The Maui News she thought her opponent was a “political puppet, relying on his party to prop him up” and saying that he was more concerned with the agenda of the Democratic Party than his Upcountry constituents. Yamashita may clearly be a partisan who supports the same organized labor and health care interests as his party, but apparently his constituents don’t care because they overwhelmingly voted for his reelection that year.
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