Hawaii's Congressional Race Sparks Tension Among Democrats
*By Christian Smith*
Self-proclaimed socialist and candidate for Hawaii's First Congressional District, Kaniela Ing, says that warnings from former FBI Director James Comey and Democratic leaders about electing progressives don't phase him.
His words to Cheddar came in response to a [tweet on Sunday](https://twitter.com/Comey/status/1021132108381683712), in which Comey told democrats not "to lose your minds and rush to the socialist left." He continued: "America’s great middle wants sensible, balanced, ethical leadership."
In Ing's view, supporting and promoting more liberal candidates is precisely what the party needs after decades of alienating much of the countryーthe South, in particular.
"These are states that were rooted in the workers' movement that were Democrats for generations and, all of a sudden, from Reagan to now, they've only been talked to by one side," the Hawaiian State Representative said in an interview on Cheddar Monday.
Comey's tweet followed a surge in support for more socialist-leaning, progressive candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who upset 20-year incumbent Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in their June primary race. During her campaign, Ocasio-Cortez refused donations from the wealthy and focused on mobilizing hundreds of volunteers to canvass and pass out campaign materials around New York City.
Ocasio-Cortez's grassroots strategy is exactly what Ing wants to emulate in his Oahu-based district.
"We're not relying on the typical DCCC Democratic campaign where you just call a bunch of rich people, ask them for thousands of dollars, and then just run a bunch of TV ads," Ing said. "We knock on doors every single day. We have volunteers out there making calls, sending textsーthat's the way we're going to win."
Ing and six other Democrats are battling for the party's House seat nomination being vacated by Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), who is running governor.
Former Rep. Ed Case currently leads in the latest [poll numbers](http://www.staradvertiser.com/2018/07/17/hawaii-news/ed-case-far-ahead-in-race-for-congressional-seat/) from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, with 36 percent of respondents preferring Case. That same poll placed Ing in fourth, with 6 percent.
Ing says he isn't worried about the latest poll numbers, because they are based on "likely voters," which often don't apply to groups like college students that his campaign is courting.
Hawaii will hold its Congressional primary races on August 11.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/hawaiian-congressional-candidate-kaniela-ing-is-progressive-and-proud-of-it)
Cheddar Politics breaks down the seismic shift in White House rhetoric surrounding Russia's war on Ukraine. President Biden began calling the alleged war crimes committed by Russian soldiers in the Kyiv region "genocide." Foreign policy and national security analyst A. Ari Aramesh joins Cheddar News to discuss what constitutes genocide and whether the developments in Ukraine qualify.
President Joe Biden said he is considering forgiving some federal student debt, a step that would help him fulfill a campaign promise and provide relief to borrowers who took out thousands of dollars in loans to finance their higher education.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 28, 2022, with Elon Musk mocking Twitter's top legal exec Vijaya Gadde on the platform itself, a probe in George Floyd's death finding discrimination within the Minneapolis police force, the latest California drought leading to new water restrictions, and more.
Tech giant Microsoft won a military contract for the production of its IVAS (integrated visual augmentation system) combat goggles, based on its HoloLens ARG tech, worth up to $21.9 billion over 10 years. However, the Pentagon is now saying that the device "has not yet demonstrated the capability to serve as a fighting goggle," and that the Army made mistakes in the program's initial stages by not clearly describing minimum performance standards. While testing continues, concerns have grown outside of the Defense Department to Congress and even within Microsoft itself. Cheddar's Ken Buffa takes a deeper look at the possible boondoggle.
U.S. stocks fell sharply to close Tuesday's session, with the Nasdaq dropping 3.95% and hitting a new one-year low. Frances Newton Stacy, Director of Strategy for Optimal Capital, joins Cheddar News to discuss her reaction to how markets closed the session, and to break down Q3 2022 earnings from Microsoft. "Netflix was sort of the big warning, and I think Big Tech was down today in anticipation of these earnings," she says.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed into law a bill that strips Disney World of its special self-governing status. This came after Disney spoke out against Florida's so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, some saying in retaliation of that. Ben Means, Professor of Law and the John T. Campbell Chair in Business and Professional Ethics at the University of South Carolina School of Law, breaks down how the new law might impact Disney’s business moving forward.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 27, 2022, with Tesla stocks absorbing an initial hit following Elon Musk's purchase of Twitter, Russia pausing its natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission taking off, and more.
Russia and the United States have exchanged prisoners. Russia released a Marine veteran jailed in Moscow while the U.S. released a convicted Russian drug trafficker serving a prison sentence in Connecticut.
