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Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will appear on Hawaii’s presidential ballot following a Friday ruling that blocked an effort by Hawaii Democrats to disqualify his campaign’s ballot access petition.

Hawaii marks the third state where Kennedy has officially qualified for ballot access. He gained ballot access in Michigan, a key battleground state, earlier this week after qualifying for Utah’s ballot earlier this year.

The ruling, issued by hearings officer Aaron Schulaner, said an objection filed by the Democratic Party of Hawaii “did not meet its burden of proof in this case” and the Kennedy campaign’s We the People Party – a minor party the campaign established to circumvent ballot access requirements – will be allowed to appear on Hawaii’s ballot in November.

A spokesperson for the Hawaii Office of Elections confirmed to CNN that Friday’s ruling means Kennedy will appear on the state’s ballot. The Kennedy campaign and the Democratic Party of Hawaii did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii’s objection centered on the validity of the We the People Party’s internal organization. Hawaii Democrats accused the Kennedy-aligned party of violating its own bylaws and Hawaii state laws by listing as part of its leadership people who had been previously registered as Democrats and people who weren’t registered voters.

Kennedy’s campaign has said he’s gained enough signatures to qualify for the ballot in North Carolina, New Hampshire, Nevada, Nebraska, Idaho and Iowa. A super PAC backing Kennedy has said it has collected enough signatures to put Kennedy on the ballot in Georgia, Arizona and South Carolina.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii’s failed effort to block Kennedy’s ballot access petition is part of a broader opposition to Kennedy’s candidacy from Democrats nationally. The Democratic National Committee has filed multiple Federal Elections Commission complaints against the Kennedy campaign and its allies, and Democrats have frequently run advertisements attempting to paint Kennedy as a spoiler candidate who will help former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee.

Kennedy’s team has pushed back on Democrats’ messaging, previously telling CNN that donors “from across the political spectrum are supporting the Kennedy campaign as they are tired of the corruption in the two-party system.”

“Instead, donors want an independent candidate who will heal the divide, restore the middle class, end the forever wars, unravel corporate capture, and the end chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear said in a February statement.

Kennedy, 70, initially launched his presidential campaign as a Democrat challenging Biden in the primary last year, before pivoting to run as an independent in October. Last month, he announced attorney Nicole Shanahan, 38, as his vice presidential nominee at a campaign rally in Oakland, California.

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hundreds of ballet dancers tiptoed their way into the record books in New York City, including a 10-year-old girl from Hawaii.

Aila Ing, of Ewa Beach, was among 353 ballet dancers to set a new Guinness World Record this week for the most dancers en pointe in one place.

The group beat the old record set back in 2019.

The ballerinas, between ages 9 to 19, are with the Youth America Grand Prix.

Last week, Ing shined on stage at the Lincoln Center, competing in the Youth America Grand Prix Finals.

Ing first started dancing in 2020 at the Salvation Army Kroc Center Hawaii’s Kroc Dance Academy.

Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

Power outages that left thousands of Oahu and Hawaii Island residents in the dark last weekend have prompted state Senate leaders to urge the Public Utilities Commission to investigate Hawaiian Electric’s ongoing reliability issues.

In a letter to the PUC, Sens. Glenn Wakai, chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Intergovernmental an Military Affairs; Jarrett Keohokalole, chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection; and Lynn DeCoite, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism, called on the commission to exercise its investigative powers to protect the public interest.

“The PUC has the statutory responsibility to regulate Hawaiian Electric proactively in the public interest and can use its investigatory powers pursuant to Section 269-7, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to ensure that electric utility services are delivered in a safe and reliable manner,” the senators wrote. “The lack of reliability due to insufficient energy generation, HECO’s aging equipment, unreliable oil-fired power generation, and immediate and long-term solutions should be investigated.”

In the letter, dated April 16, the senators noted that one outage on Oahu knocked out power to 13,000 HECO customers, prompted the closure of four East Oahu school and triggered the release of 237,500 gallons of sewage into the ocean when the East Honolulu Treatment Plant lost electricity. They also noted the loss of power to 21,500 customers on Hawaii Island.

On April 14, HECO reported that heavy rains and severe weather damaged one of the main transmission lines that bring power across the Koolau mountain range into East Honolulu. According to the utility, about 4,000 feet of 46-kilovolt line fell across a second transmission line, taking both lines out of service. Repair efforts were hampered by steep terrain and the inability to use a helicopter due to continued bad weather.

The same evening, HECO asked residential and business customers on Hawaii Island to reduce their electricity use to prevent further rolling outages after more than 21,000 customers experienced a 30-minute outage.

HECO explained that the request was prompted by the unavailability of several large generators. HECO’s Hill 5 steam unit tripped offline the previous day. Its Puna steam unit and CT01 combustion turbine unit are under repair and its Keahole CT-5 unit is offline for annual overhaul until the end of the month.

According to HECO,  these units generate about 62 megawatts combined. In addition, independent power producer Hamakua Energy, the island’s largest generator, was offline and wind and solar resources were forecast to be lower than normal, HECO reported.“These unplanned rolling outages and calls for conservation showcase Hawaiian Electric’s struggle to provide safe and reliable energy to customers,” they wrote. “Even worse, HECO expects more blackouts in the months ahead, without any indication of when these energy reliability issues will be resolved.”

The senators asked the PUC to investigate the matter to better understand “the nature, duration and resolution of these outages.”