Inside the Late-Night Parties Where Hawaii Politicians Raked In Money
Mr. Yonamine – who enjoys a certain fame because his uncle Wally Yonamine was a famous athlete – is a figure in local sports. In 2018, one year after he was named baseball coach at Pearl City High School, state lawmakers, some of whom received campaign contributions from their parties, approved $3 million in funding to convert the field from grass to artificial turf.
As Mr. Yonamine spoke from the renovated stadium at the opening ceremony in 2022, a Hawaiian priest sprinkled rainwater on the home plate.
“Thank you to everyone who helped us achieve our dreams,” Mr. Yonamine said.
This article was published in partnership with Great local news At Stanford University.
How were the numbers calculated?
The Times and Civil Beat examined hundreds of thousands of campaign contributions and more than 70,000 government contracts to link vendors to their donations to political parties. The analysis revealed that nearly 20% of all campaign contributions since 2006 have come from people associated with companies that do business with state and local governments.
This number is likely an underestimate because the data is incomplete. Records were obtained from Hawaii Awards and Notices Data System, which tracks who won state contracts, but a 2021 review found that only 40 percent of all state contracts awarded that year were published. It is not clear whether the problem applies to other years.
Reporters requested and reviewed check records to verify total payments to vendors from the departments. Some departments did not respond to public records requests, including those with large numbers of high-value contracts, such as the Departments of Education and Transportation.
Gaps in state and county contract data and check records made it difficult to determine how much money vendors actually received. The amounts published in source documents or contracting departments have been verified.
Contractors were matched to the names of companies, their executives and employees in a database of campaign contributions maintained by the Hawaii Campaign Expenditure Committee. Donations from spouses and relatives of contractor executives were also included in the count when possible. Spouses and relatives were identified based on people sharing the same last name and address as the primary contributor. In some cases, spouses are jointly listed as shareholders.
The analysis focused on suppliers providing legal, consulting, engineering and construction services. Contracts and contributions of subsidiaries were attributed to the parent companies. Universities and other public bodies with government contracts were excluded from the analysis. Organizations that may have other lobbying interests – such as the Hawaii Association of Realtors – were also excluded.
Contributions made at events hosted by Mr. Unamine were determined by searching all contributions made to participating candidates within one week of the parties. the Hawaii Campaign Expenditure Committee Contributions are required to be deposited within seven days of receipt.
