Dynasty
Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran | Photos courtesy Gil Keith-Agaran
Sara Duterte recently resigned from her Cabinet posts in the Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos, Jr. Administration (Sara remains in her elected but largely ceremonial position of Vice-President). Political wags attributed the step to open signs of the rift between the two prominent Filipino family political dynasties.
Political dynasties can be common in the Philippines with fathers and mothers and children and grandchildren and cousins over time serving in the same elected provincial, town, and national offices or in prominent appointed positions. Critics recognize this padrino system values family ties (nepotism) and friendships (cronyism) over basic merit—even when ultimately the voters of a particular constituency validate those candidacies with approving ballots.
Without a monarchy or peerage, elected and appointed multi-generation families can substitute in the minds of citizens for the nobility abandoned in the American Revolution but celebrated often in popular culture (Robin Hood fights for evil Prince John and his lackey the Sheriff of Nottingham while waiting for the return of good King Richard the Lion-Hearted from the crusades; in history, retrospectively, Locksley was a bandit and John was a better English ruler than his European empire building brother Dickon).
Undoubtedly members of politically successful families will refer to the need to give back to the community that has given them so much. But this sense of noblesse oblige (from the French obligations of the nobility) assumes group superiority, the notion the upper class has resources and skills to benefit the rest of society, and poorer, marginalized underprivileged people are grateful recipients of this benevolence. This practiced generosity helps perpetuate a social hierarchy. Noblesse oblige, while imposing on the successful an expectation to behave admirably, also gives any entrenched aristocracy a validation for their privileged positions.
Despite all the mythic tributes to Democratic populism, American national politics, and government have their share of prominent names—the Kennedys of New England, the Adams of Massachusetts, the Lees of Virginia, the Roosevelts of New York, the Bushes of Connecticut, Texas, and Florida, the Daleys of Illinois, the Tafts of Ohio, and the Browns in California, to mention a few.
Having a familiar name undoubtedly helps in elections. But it’s been surprisingly rarer in Hawai‘i.
The increasingly fabled Democratic Revolution of 1954—where labor union-backed and AJA veterans upended the longtime plantation-oligarchy-supported Republicans in the Territorial Legislature—was thought to have brought a leveling in local government. The children of Asian farm workers contracted to labor in the pineapple and sugar agribusinesses had returned from World War II and were displaced through the democratic process by the plantation managers and their sycophants. Nowadays there are few Republicans in State office—some leave the legislature for better success at the City or County level.
One of those 1954 AJA veterans was Daniel K. Inouye. Inouye ran and won Hawai‘i’s only U.S. Representative seat in the first election following Statehood in 1959. Four years later he would win a vacant U.S. Senate seat. Inouye, undoubtedly Hawai‘i’s most celebrated elected official gained national prominence during his decades in Washington, D.C., and became one of the most skilled pork barrel appropriators west of Robert Byrd (D-W. Va.) and south of Ted Stevens (R-AK). Due to his longevity in the U.S. Senate (1963–2012), DKI rose to President Pro Tempore, third in the constitutional line of succession to the U.S. Presidency (behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the U.S. House). His namesake Daniel Ken Inouye, Jr., is running this year for the State House in Mililani.
Matt Matsunaga, son of another post-Statehood Congressional delegate Spark Matsunaga, served several terms in the State Senate. Former U.S. Senator Hiram Fong’s namesake served on the Honolulu City Council. Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s father Mike remains in the State Senate while her mother Carol was an elected member of the Board of Education.
Native Hawaiian elected officials Governor John D. Waihe‘e III and U.S. Senator Daniel Akaka have a son and granddaughter in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs: John D. Waihe‘e IV and Kalei Akaka. Windward O‘ahu had brothers D.G. “Andy” Anderson and Whitney Anderson and Whitney’s grandson former City Council chair Ikaika Anderson.
Big Island father and son Yoshito and Dwight Takamine served in the State House. Maui-rooted brothers Gerald and David Hagino served in the State legislature.
On Maui, during the territorial period, cousins Republican Henry Baldwin and Democrat Henry Rice were prominent political rivals.
After Hawai‘i joined the Union, Bob Takitani and his relative Anthony Takitani served in the legislature. Joe Tanaka and his brother Kam Tanaka won elections to the County Council, State Senate, and House, respectively. Both Hannibal Tavares and his daughter Charmaine won elections as Mayor. Goro Hokama and his son G. Riki Hokama were fixtures on the County Council from Lānaʻi.
Manuel Molina and his relatives Joe Bulgo and Michael Molina also spent years on the County Council.
There have been few Filipino political dynasties. Micah Aiu won a House seat in his mother Donna Mercado Kim’s State Senate community in 2022. Richard Caldito Jr. held a seat in the State House after his father Richard “Pablo” Caldito served on the Board of Supervisors/Maui County Council. The first elected Filipino legislator Republican State Rep. Peter Aduja’s daughter Melody Aduja won one term in the State Senate. Hawai‘i Supreme Court Justice Benjamin Menor served in the State Senate while his son Ronnie Menor won elections to the House, State Senate, and City Council.
But while having a familiar name certainly helps, it’s usually a bigger advantage to come from a large clan. Your key supporters are often your family—and having an extended circle of kin and friends is an advantage (especially if they’re all eligible and registered to vote). Your family and network from your school, work, worship, and play make up a natural core of your “volunteers” to sign wave, and knock on doors (although most first-time candidates should do as much walking on their own in key neighborhoods), and assist with mailings. Having younger supporters also helps with picking the right social media platforms and insights on messages to reach audiences who may not rely on mainstream and legacy news outlets and sources (note the Maui News has surrendered and joined Maui Now for a largely online media presence; the monthly Fil-Am Voice has a website and Facebook page but remains primarily a printed product).
I would not have been running this year—I was re-elected to a four-year term in 2022. But I do miss the door knocking (Central Maui is largely walkable—although you need to plan how to tackle the hilly new Kehalani neighborhoods and the Waiehu Heights subdivisions). I remember telling stories with retirees (home during weekdays) in open garages in Kahului. I also recall meeting a nudist on a weekend (it was a hot and humid day in the Dream City) and having a discussion on how long before the State implemented the Puʻunene Avenue widening (apparently just now on the schedule according to Kahului Rep. Justin Woodson’s newsletter). I also caution against waking people who just got done with an overnight shift at the South Maui and West Maui hotels—you can tell they weren’t happy to see a politician at the door—and on Saturdays and Sundays, listen for whether football is on when you approach a house (you may not want to lose votes by pulling them away from the game).
I get the sense the new candidates largely skip the hard work of walking, relying on some mass sign waving, robocalls and texts (which I think are mighty annoying), and a bunch of mailers. My only advice is us old people still like to see our candidates show they want the job, and that means coming by my house (Just drop off some literature if we’re out or watching the Bengals game on TV).
Gilbert S.C. Keith-Agaran practices law in Wailuku. He served in the State Legislature from 2009-2023, the Cayetano Administration from 1995-2002, and the Arakawa Administration from 2003-2005.