Duke Aiona

Duke Aiona

Republican Party

Prior offices

Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii

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Elections and appointments

Last election

November 8, 2022

Education

High school

Saint Louis School, 1973

Bachelor's

University of the Pacific

Law

University of Hawaii, 1981

Personal

Profession

Lawyer

Contact

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

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Duke Aiona (Republican Party) was the Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii.

Aiona (Republican Party) ran for election for Governor of Hawaii. Aiona lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Aiona is the former Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii. He was first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. Aiona lost his first bid for Governor of Hawaii in 2010, losing to Democrat Neil Abercrombie in the general election on November 2, 2010. Abercrombie was ousted in the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial primary; Aiona ran to replace him in the 2014 general election, but again was unsuccessful.

On August 9, 2014, Aiona became the Republican nominee for governor for the second cycle in a row. He faced two opponents in the August 9 Republican primary, and won with 97 percent of the vote. He was defeated by David Ige (D) in the general election. Duke Aiona lost the general election on November 4, 2014.

Aiona got his nickname "Duke," named after Dodgers center-fielder Duke Snider, from his father, James Aiona, Sr. He is of Chinese, Portuguese and Hawaiian descent.

Prior to his election as lieutenant governor in 2002, he was a jurist, serving both as an attorney and a judge for the state.

Biography

Duke Aiona graduated from Saint Louis High School in 1973. Aiona earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the Pacific and a juris doctor from the University of Hawai'i in 1981. His career experience includes working as an administrative judge with the Hawai'i Drug Court, a lawyer in private practice, and a radio host with 808 State Update Talk Radio. Aiona has been affiliated with the Aerospace States Association.

Political career

Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii (2002-2010)

Aiona was elected Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii in the 2002 general election, on a ticket with Republican gubernatorial nominee, former Mayor of Maui, Linda Lingle. On December 2, 2010, Aiona was sworn in as Hawaii's 10th Lieutenant Governor at an inauguration ceremony at the Hawaii State Capitol rotunda. He and Lingle ran together again in 2010, winning re-election to their second terms in the general election on November 2, 2010.

Noteworthy events

Personal driver's traffic violation

In 2005, Aiona's personal driver was caught on camera breaking a new state law right after Aiona had made a public presentation about that same law. Local ABC affiliate KITV reporter Keoki Kerr reported that after a press conference about a state law that made it illegal to drive a vehicle through a crosswalk with a pedestrian in the crosswalk, news cameras caught Aiona's personal driver almost hitting a pedestrian in the crosswalk.

Temper

He was questioned about his temper at his confirmation hearing for the state circuit court bench. Judiciary committee member State Senator Matt Matsunaga asked if Aiona recalled getting kicked out of a lawyer's league basketball game in the late 1980s. Matsunaga was satisfied with the explanation that it was a misunderstanding and voted in favor of the appointment.

Elections

2022

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022

General election

General election for Governor of Hawaii

Joshua Green defeated Duke Aiona in the general election for Governor of Hawaii on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joshua Green (D)	63.2	261,025
		Duke Aiona (R)	36.8	152,237

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 413,262
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Joshua Green	62.9	158,161
		Vicky Cayetano	20.9	52,447
		Kaiali'i Kahele	15.0	37,738
		Van Tanabe	0.5	1,236
		Richard Kim	0.4	991
		David Bourgoin	0.2	590
		Clyde McClain Lewman	0.1	249

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 251,412
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Kirk Caldwell (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Governor of Hawaii on August 13, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Duke Aiona	49.6	37,608
		BJ Penn	26.1	19,817
		Gary Cordery	10.9	8,258
		Heidi Tsuneyoshi	9.6	7,255
		Lynn Barry Mariano	1.2	903
		Paul Morgan	1.0	796
		Keline-Kameyo Kahau	0.6	469
		Walter Woods	0.6	438
		Moses Paskowitz	0.2	189
		George Hawat	0.2	140

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 75,873
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Governor of Hawaii

No candidate advanced from the primary.

		Candidate	%	Votes
		Keleionalani Taylor	61.9	755
		Caleb Nazara	38.1	464

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Vote totals may be incomplete for this race.
	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,219
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gene Tamashiro (L)
• Frank Hinshaw (L)

2014

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2014

Aiona ran for election to the office of Governor of Hawaii. He won the Republican nomination in the primary on August 9, and faced David Ige (D), Jeff Davis (L) and Mufi Hannemann (I) in the general election on November 4, 2014. The general election took place on November 4, 2014.

Results

General election

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	David Ige/Shan Tsutsui	49.5%	181,065
	Republican	Duke Aiona/Elwin Ahu	37.1%	135,742
	Independent	Mufi Hannemann/Les Chang	11.7%	42,925
	Libertarian	Jeff Davis/Cindy Marlin	1.7%	6,393
Total Votes				366,125
Election results via Hawaii Office of Elections

Primary election

Governor of Hawaii, Republican Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Duke Aiona	97.2%	41,832
Stuart Gregory	1.5%	640
Charles Collins	1.3%	580
Total Votes		43,052
Election results via Hawaii Division of Elections.

Race background

Ige defeats Abercrombie

In the Democratic primary election, state Sen. David Ige defeated Gov. Neil Abercrombie. Prior to this primary, the last governor of Hawaii to lose a re-election campaign was Gov. William Francis Quinn (R) in 1962. Quinn lost to John Anthony Burns (D) in the general election.

The week before the primary was held, a Honolulu Civil Beat poll of likely voters found Ige with 51 percent support to Abercrombie's 41 percent support. Abercrombie was endorsed in the primary by President Barack Obama (D). Ige was endorsed by former governors Ben Cayetano and George Ariyoshi.

A New York Times article written two months before the primary election suggested that Abercrombie faced a more difficult re-election campaign due to his appointment of Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz (D) to the U.S. Senate in December 2012 following the death of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D). In a letter written before his death, Inouye requested the appointment of Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D) to his seat. The article argued that this decision sparked "a backlash that threatens to topple both Mr. Schatz and the governor — who had already been struggling during an occasionally tumultuous first term — in the Democratic primary on Aug. 9."

In the aftermath of the primary, Abercrombie attributed his defeat to his decision to call a special session to legalize gay marriage in November 2013. He claimed that Republican opponents voted for Ige in the open Democratic primary. "Republicans crossed over en masse to vote in the Democratic primary, and then the religious factor came in," Abercrombie said.

Ige supported Abercrombie's decision to call for the special session. A spokeswoman for Ige's campaign, Lynn Kenton, said, "every candidate has the freedom to comment on their campaign, regardless of the outcome, and if that's what Gov. Abercrombie feels was his weaknesses, that would be for him to determine."

Debates

October 15 debate

David Ige (D), Duke Aiona (R), and Mufi Hannemann (I) shared the stage during a debate sponsored by Hawaii News Now and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Hannemann criticized Ige and fellow legislators for rising electrical costs and problems faced by the state's public schools. He argued that Hawaii voters should question whether Ige could lead the way after spending 29 years in the legislature as the problems Aiona had pointed to developed. Ige responded that legislators have to reach consensus on major issues and that he was "running for governor because I know I can't do it as a legislator...I have to be governor to make these things work."

Ige asserted that Aiona was selective in referring to his past experience as lieutenant governor, taking credit for some policies of the Lingle Administration while not associating himself with others. Aiona responded that voters could ask a similar question of Ige because he was running on a ticket with sitting Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui.

Polls

Hawaii Governor - General Election
Poll	David Ige (D)	Duke Aiona (R)	Mufi Hannemann (I)	Other	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
New York Times/CBS/YouGov October 16-23, 2014	54%	22%	5%	0%	19%	+/-6	1,002
Merriman River October 16-19, 2014	40%	34%	11%	6%	8%	+/-2.8	1,221
New York Times/CBS/YouGov September 20-October 1, 2014	41%	35%	6%	0%	18%	+/-4	1,319
Rasmussen September 9-10, 2014	40%	39%	14%	2%	6%	+/-4	750
AVERAGES	43.75%	32.5%	9%	2%	12.75%	+/-4.2	1,073
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Primary election

Governor of Hawaii - Democratic Primary
Poll	Neil Abercrombie*	David Ige	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group (Survey of likely voters) July 24-28, 2014	41%	51%	8%	+/-3.3	895
Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group June 7-9, 2014	37%	48%	15%	+/-3.0	729
Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group February 12-15, 2014	37%	37%	26%	+/-3.1	643
Honolulu Star-Advertiser February 1-11, 2014	47%	38%	14%	+/-4.3	528
AVERAGES	40.5%	43.5%	15.75%	+/-3.43	698.75
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

General Election Hypothetical Match-up

Three way match-up (includes Hannemann)
Poll	Neil Abercrombie* (D)	Duke Aiona (R)	Mufi Hannemann (I)	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Honolulu Civil Beat/Merriman River Group June 7-9, 2014	27%	33%	22%	+/-3.0	1,078
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

Abercrombie vs. Aiona
Poll	Neil Abercrombie* (D)	Duke Aiona (R)	Undecided	Margin of error	Sample size
Honolulu Star-Advertiser February 1-11, 2014	40%	48%	12%	+/-3.9	642
Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to [email protected].

2010

See also: Hawaii gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Aiona faced Neil Abercrombie (D), Daniel H. Cunningham (Free Energy) and Tom Pollard (Non-Partisan) in the general election on November 2, 2010. Abercrombie won the election, with 58% of the vote to Aiona's 41%.

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Duke Aiona did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign website

Aiona’s campaign website stated the following:

“	DUKE & JR. ARE NOT LIFE-LONG POLITICIANS Believe in working together and not partisan politics. Invested in better Hawai'i for the long-term. Solutions, not promises. Encourages respectful, collaborate, open discussion. Confident in the people's voices. Leads by example with character and integrity. KEY ISSUES TO ADDRESS Housing Cost of Living Education Crime/Drug Addiction Homelessness	”
—Duke Aiona’s campaign website (2022)

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Duke Aiona campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2022	Governor of Hawaii	Lost general	$285,406	$318,992
2014	Governor of Hawaii	Lost	$2,205,219	N/A**
Grand total			$2,490,625	$318,992
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
In 1977, while attending law school, he met Vivian Welsh at a dance in Waikīkī. They married in 1982. They have two sons, Kulia and Makana; and two daughters, Ohulani and Kaimilani. In 1998, he retired from his position as a state circuit judge, stating that the $87,000 annual salary was not enough to support his family. In 2005, the annual salary he received as lieutenant governor was $90,041.

See also

2022 Elections

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