Monthly Archives: November 2008

At the majority caucus meeting on Thursday, November, 13, 2008, I officially became the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.  This is one of the three big committees in the House.  In years past, the committee has taken on many challenging issues such as same-sex marriage, civil unions, medical malpractice, death with dignity, and the three-strikes law for criminals.  Many political insiders consider this chairmanship the “kiss of death” leadership post because many chairs lose their seat or retire because of the many controversial issues, onslaught by emotional people, and the high stress level for the chair and his family.  I will do my best for the people of Hawaii.

Aloha,

For all of you who live in District 41, I sincerely appreciate your vote.  I am excited to get back to work on legislation and appropriations for our community and state.  This was the dirtiest election I have experienced as far as smear goes, but I continued to stick with my platform and send out positive energy.

To all my friends and family who volunteered for my campaign, words can’t express my grattitude for your love and support.  With a number of you, I have become friends with you by walking door-to-door, and I am really appreciative of you taking time out of your busy schedule to help my campaign.

To all my donors, I am appreciative of the funds you donated to my campaign, which helped to pay for my brochures, mailing costs, food, beverages, office supplies, and the list goes on.  Without you, I would not have been able to operate a professional campaign.

Thank you so much!  I will continue to do my best.  I love you all!

With Warmest Aloha,

Jon Riki Karamatsu

There were several negative pieces done by my opponent and a recent negative piece by the Republican Party that stated false information on many legislation.  I corrected some of the attacks that was sent earlier, however, there is not enough time for me to respond to the recent attacks against me.  Most recently, they attacked me on voting to weaken the DUI law when in fact I voted against the measure.  The bill would have allowed those who served their criminal sentence for DUI that received a lifetime license revocation to be allowed to drive again (civil side: ADLRO process) if they have special needs such as caring for ailing parents or children.  They also attacked me personally.  Finally, when I sign waved, my opponent’s supporters constantly taunted me about my DUI.