Hanabusa calls on David Ige to Suspend False and Misleading TV Commercial

For this reason, we are calling on David Ige to direct his campaign to immediately suspend the broadcast of the commercial.

In the spot, Ige's campaign claims credit for a gun control measure Hawaii State Legislature, not his administration, initiated. He did not introduce or champion the bills through the public hearing process. His primary involvement was a ceremonial signing and photo opportunity after legislators and members of the public spent countless hours crafting the final language for the bill.

The commercial displays a headline – attributed to KHON TV – referring to "Ige's Gun Law…" This is a deliberate misrepresentation. The actual KHON headline reads "New Gun Laws…" and did not reference Ige at all. This clearly demonstrates the misleading approach used throughout the commercial.

Next, Ige states that crime rates have dropped under his leadership. But the most recent information from the FBI shows that violent crime in Hawaii INCREASED following his election. And by saying he has made Hawaii "safer," within the context of a gun control message, Ige is clearly referencing violent crime, not property crime (which has been on the decline for decades prior to his election).

This claim, too, is deliberately misleading.

Violent crime increases in Hawaii during Ige's term cited by the FBI include murder, rape and aggravated assault.

Other evidence of the increase of violent crime in Hawaii includes the nearly 2,000 visitors who fell victim to crime in 2017 alone. The recent spate of shootings and stabbings in Waikiki, the vital hub of our visitor industry, triggered law enforcement and businesses to convene the first visitor safety summit in two decades.

Hawaii needs a governor who has a firm grasp of the facts, and understands that leadership is actively making things happen … not claiming credit for the work of others.

We formally call for the Ige campaign to stop running this dishonest and misleading commercial or correct it to make it factually accurate.

FBI Crime Hawaii Statistics Sources: https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2016/crime-in-the-u.s.-2016/topic-pages/tables/table-2 , https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/preliminary-report/tables/table-4/state-cuts/colorado-through-hawaii.xls. 

SOURCE Hanabusa for Governor