HONOLULU (KHON) — Democratic candidates for governor, Vicky Cayetano and Congressman Kai Kahele are teaming up and raising questions about the front runner, Lt. Governor Josh Green’s finances, Green for his part said there is no smoking gun.
In a rare joint news conference, Vicky Cayetano and Congressman Kai Kahele questioned Lt. Governor Green’s earnings from his LLC’s.
“There’s no lieutenant governor in the history of this state that has made more than a million dollars while serving as lieutenant governor in outside income in addition to his $165,000 tax payer funded salary as the lieutenant governor of the State of Hawaii,” Kahele said. “I believe these questions are valid.”
Cayetano and Kahele are calling on Green to disclose all contracts and clients from Green Health International LLC.
Cayetano said, “And while we’ve been asking we’ve been stone walled even at the debate it’s like he refused to disclose.”
Both Democratic candidates spoke from Cayetano’s campaign headquarters. With mail-in ballots already out, political analyst Dr. John Hart said it is a rare move.
Hart said, “What it is dramatic is is you have two candidates coming together to go after another candidate is simply the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
Through a statement Green told KHON2 News:
“When campaigns get desperate, sometimes they start attacking instead of talking about the issues that really matter to people. It’s always disappointing, and in Hawaii, it’s not who we are, but my campaign has been positive from the very beginning and will stay positive to the end, and I will keep talking about building affordable housing, fighting homelessness, and lowering the cost of living, and I will do the best I can to unite us and lead Hawaii forward to a better, stronger future.”
In past debates, Green has said those earnings came from his medical business as a physician.
Hart said the voters will need to see evidence of wrongdoing for these questions to have any sway.
Hart said, “The campaign is going to have to provide some proof that that’s happening in this case. And the only evidence we have is that it’s a legal LLC, which, you know, everybody has.”
The primary elections are on Saturday, August 13.
