Perpetual Campaigns And Hawaii's "Resign To Run" Requirement

Today's Honolulu Star-Advertiser runs the editorial Perk of incumbency: Unequal time, about Hawaii's "resign to run" requirement (article II, section 7 of the Hawaii Constitution), particularly the interplay with equal time in broadcast media:

The cynic might say that elected officials are candidates every day of their working lives. Attorney Robert Thomas, who admits to a little cynicism, observes this frequently these days when the bus he's riding to work rumbles past the mayor's campaign headquarters.

"When we pass the 'Mufi for Governor' signs, I think, 'It must be nice having your campaign office there and not be a candidate yet,'" he said. "I can see why people are confused."

Despite recent complaints about unofficial candidates maintaining a high profile, especially through their regular radio spots, this confusion is unlikely to lift anytime soon.

....

To say [former Congressman Neil] Abercrombie [also a candidate for Governor] is unhappy, particularly about the relative advantage of his primary rival Hannemann, is an understatement. The mayor has now declared his intent to seek the governor's job but won't have to resign his Honolulu Hale seat, with all its publicity perks, until the July 20 deadline to file his nomination papers. That's when, according to the courts, he becomes "eligible" for the seat.

As for the lieutenant governor: [Duke] Aiona won't have to resign at all. The "resign to run" provision in the state Constitution only requires resignation if the term of office being sought starts before the candidate's current job ends.

That seemed enough of a safeguard back in 1978, when the state Constitutional Convention tried to rein in electioneering by sitting politicians, said attorney Thomas, whose specializations include election law.

"We hadn't yet reached the days of the perpetual campaign, as we have now," he said.

Read the entire piece here.

For the details about when a candidate must resign under article II, section 7, read this post.