Congressman Kai Kahele is ineligible to receive public campaign funds in his run for governor after he and his campaign failed to meet last month’s deadline to file a mandatory signed and notarized affidavit promising to abide by campaign spending limits of $2.1 million for the August 2022 primary.

Kahele released the following statement about the Public Financing Ineligibility:

“The ineligibility of our campaign to receive a public funding match rests solely on my shoulders. Although we received over 2,000+ individual donations across the State contributing to our grassroots campaign, we missed the affidavit affirming our commitment to the $2 million expenditure limit. If getting big money out of politics is our goal, we need to make the State’s partial public funding process easier and more streamlined for all candidates. I know we will need to work twice as hard, and Maria, our team, and I are looking forward to continuing to build on the incredible energy that we are experiencing towards our vision for Hawaiʻi.”

(AP Photo)