At 3:57 p.m. today, Ewa Beach state representative
"RINO Bob" McDermott wrote to HIRA from his personal e-mail account (
which he uses throughout the day for off-the-books official state business, non-state business conducted inside his state office and for election campaign business as well).
Rep. McDermott revealed exclusively to HIRA that he intends to run for governor in 2018. Furthermore, McDermott tells HIRA that he is extremely confident he will emerge as the Hawaii GOP's nominee against Democrat David Ige in the November 2018 general election. His previously secret campaign which was reportedly going to be announced next month has been leaked by McDermott himself to HIRA.
Showing
unrivaled maturity, class, and sophistication, Bob McDermott's message
demonstrates his deep commitment to Christian values and helps reveal
exactly how prepared McDermott is for the rigors of campaigning and governance. Indeed, his nomination as
the Hawaii GOP's candidate for governor in 2018 appears downright inevitable. [At press time, there was no confirmation of any involvement by long-rumored McDermott running mate Andria Tupola.]
It is not known if
Miriam Hellreich will lead McDermott's campaign
in exchange for his enthusiastic support for her re-election to another 4-year term as the state party's national committeewoman at last year's state convention in Waipahu. It is also not known if
McDermott's recently granted support for
Hellreich's candidate for party chair Shirlene Ostrov is part of a
quid pro quo to gain Hellreich's support for McDermott's gubernatorial bid.
Known for telling people he is a reliable judge of character,
McDermott recently vouched for Beth Fukumoto to his colleagues only a few weeks ago as the
absolute best person to serve as Minority Leader for the GOP. She was forced out of the job for being a total RINO just days later following
HIRA's high-profile campaign to oust Fukumoto.
In an odd case of deja vu, McDermott served in the State House in the 90's representing a completely different neighborhood --
the Salt Lake area. He soon bailed on that job to unsuccessfully run for Congress against a dying woman (Patsy Mink);
eventually endorsing the Democrat in the race. After losing that campaign, McDermott spent years in support of the campaigns and causes of a variety of Democrats like
Mufi Hannemann and
Willie Espero.
Now, after representing Ewa Beach in the State House for a couple of terms, the question arises: Will McDermott really bail on his shrinking GOP caucus in search of the brass ring of the governorship?
Well, he said he will. So
HIRA will take McDermott at his word.
HIRA reached out to
Governor David Ige, but he was unavailable for comment. It could have been a bad phone connection, but
HIRA's liaison at the State Capitol
distinctly heard what sounded like a roomful of laughter on the phone line after being told to "hold the line" when calling Governor Ige's press office.
Here at HIRA, we are extremely excited about focusing even more attention on McDermott, his team, his voting record and his past statements to HIRA, the public and others. Rather than following in the footsteps of Linda Lingle, it seems more likely that he is following in the footsteps of Aaron "Ling" Johanson and Beth Fukumoto. His very liberal voting record appears designed to appeal to Democrat donors. And his decision to let Hellreich keep the Hawaii GOP on the sidelines doing absolutely nothing to assist in either the same-sex marriage fight or the Pono Choices fight indicates he doesn't really care about winning those battles; just making a name for himself in hopes of fooling social conservatives and pastors into helping his political career.
