Randy Iwase

Randall Y. Iwase (born December 1, 1947) is an American politician and former Hawaii state senator. He was the Hawaii Democratic Party nominee for the 2006 Hawaii gubernatorial election.

Randy Iwase
Member of the Hawaii Senate from the 18th district
In office 1990–2000
Succeeded by	Ron Menor
Personal details
Born	(1947-12-01) December 1, 1947 (age 77) Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Jan
Children	3
Education	University of Hawaii, Manoa (BA) University of San Francisco (JD)

He ran on a platform emphasizing reform in the education sector, citing his beliefs in the importance of universal education learned from his own working-class background. Iwase was defeated by a substantial margin, in spite of a favorable Democratic climate in 2006.

Career

Randy Iwase returned to Hawai'i with his JD degree and worked as a deputy attorney general and also served as Majority Floor Leader, Hawai'i State Senator (Majority Whip), and executive director of the Aloha Tower Development Corp.^[1]

2006 gubernatorial race

Iwase won the Democratic primary by a substantial margin without serious opposition and faced Republican incumbent Governor Linda Lingle.

Only one debate occurred in the duration of the campaign, giving the relatively unknown Iwase statewide television exposure.^[2]

According to filings with the Hawai'i state Campaign Spending Commission, the Iwase campaign had only raised $241,973 as of September 23, 2006. This was in contrast to a record $6.37 million raised by his opponent, Governor Linda Lingle. The large difference in available funds was cited as an insurmountable obstacle for Iwase.

Instead, the Iwase campaign focused on using Internet technology. In addition to a classic webpage with campaign press releases and schedules, it featured videos, online contributions, links, a discussion/feedback board, blogs, as well as an RSS/Atom newsfeed.

Randy Iwase was defeated by over twenty-five points, 63 percent to 35 percent, in the general election, as Governor Lingle's personal popularity and well funded media campaign overwhelmed Iwase. His campaign's financial difficulties and late start offset the congressional Democratic "wave" of 2006.