Big Money In Hawaiʻi Politics — The Carpenters Union Is Crushing Everyone

Other political action committees are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on candidates, too, but their financial efforts fall far short of the Carpenters Union.

Pacific Resource Partnership, a powerful group representing Hawaiʻi carpenters and contractors, is dominating the political landscape this election, according to financial reports filed last week with the Campaign Spending Commission.

A Civil Beat analysis shows that PRP’s super PAC, For A Better Tomorrow, raised $7.3 million in the current election cycle, meaning since November 2024. It has spent $5.2 million, with Democratic Party lieutenant governor candidate Derek Kawakami receiving the largest share — by far — compared