State Sen. Roz Baker overcame a "nasty" fight with Republican Jan Shields, clearing the way for her to build on a 16-year career in the state Legislature and perhaps return as the Senate Ways and Means Committee chairwoman.
Baker celebrated her 5th Senate District (West, South Maui) win with fellow West Maui Democrat state Rep. Angus McKelvey, who easily won a second term to the 10th District House seat. At the Lahaina Jodo Mission, they toasted each other with glasses of champagne just before 10 p.m. when final election results confirmed their victories.
"We did the unthinkable," Baker said.
It had been a particularly rough campaign for Baker, who found herself the target of thousands of dollars in Republican campaign advertisements. She said she felt "great" and "vindicated" after claiming 8,478 votes, or 53.8 percent, versus Shields' 6,244 votes, or 39.6 percent.
"It's a real shame," Shields said in accepting defeat. "It's a shame because Roz Baker doesn't want a private hospital, and she doesn't want better schools."
Shields has blamed Baker for the 2007 defeat of a proposed private hospital in South Maui. She also pointed out that District 5 constituents are still waiting for a Lahaina bypass as well as a new public high school in Kihei.
"In all the time she's been in the Legislature, Roz hasn't accomplished what needed to be accomplished," Shields said.
Still, Shields said she was proud of her supporters. "We fought a good fight," she said.
While Baker said she was confident she would prevail, she took note of thousands of dollars Shields and the Republican Party spent in attacking her record.
"It was nasty, way nasty," she said.
Fellow Democratic state Sen. J. Kalani English of East Maui said Republicans took the low road in trying to unseat Baker.
"The Republicans were hideous in the lies and the propaganda they put out about Roz," English said.
He said the negative GOP tactics backfired.
"Hawaii and Maui County rejected that kind of campaigning," he said.
Maui Republican Party Chairwoman Kay Ghean, who lives in South Maui and received as a voter the anti-Baker campaign materials, defended them, saying they were all truthful.
She called the material a wake-up call for voters. "I think the intention was to get voters to really think," Ghean said.
Maui Democratic Party Chairman Lance Holter said Baker's victory showed that voters won't accept such "nasty" campaigning.
"It's a mandate that nasty, bad-energy coming from Mainland Republicans doesn't play out on Maui. . . . We don't get personal and we stay on track with the issues," he said.
Shields and the Republican Party have publicly blamed Baker for the failure of the proposed Malulani Health and Medical Center for South Maui.
Baker has said the decision not to approve the private hospital was in the hands of the administration of Republican Gov. Linda Lingle and was never blocked in any legislative initiatives. Shields and Ghean both counter that if Baker had really wanted the proposed medical facility to be realized, she should have pushed harder for passage of legislation to overcome state disapproval.
Baker said she introduced measures as requested by the Malulani supporters, but the legislation failed in committees she had no control over.
She said she has instead focused on bringing millions of dollars in capital improvement projects to Maui. And now that she's re-elected, she intends on spending the rest of the week on Oahu where Democrats will meet to discuss the 2009 legislative leadership.
Baker said she's optimistic, but it's the will of the caucus on whether she'll return as chairwoman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. The position is viewed as the third most powerful in the Senate.
"I will be happy serve in any capacity and work for the people in South Maui and West Maui," she said.
Shields said that while she supports the notion of "never say never," on Tuesday night, she had no desire to come back in two years and run for office.
"No, I want to take care of babies," she said, referring to her former job as a neonatal intensive care nurse.
Holter acknowledged that a groundswell of support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama helped all Democrats, including Baker in her contest with Shields.
"I'm sure it was Democrat down the line," he said.
Holter said Democrats chose not to take any victories for granted and worked their phone bank to encourage voters to come to the polls on Tuesday. He called Obama's victory a mandate of the people, and said he looked forward to the new president's plan for renewing both the economy and the county's energy alternatives.
"It's going to be a transformational economy," Holter said.
Ghean said she was disappointed and baffled by the choices voters made in Obama's race with Arizona Sen. John McCain.
"I actually think people are in love with Obama," Ghean said. "We're going to find out how happy people are going to be in a year or two."
"As my newly elected president, I hope he does right. I hope he balances his decision for the whole country and not for what I see as the left wing," she said.
She said she does not understand how people could discount McCain's experience. "Why people vote an unknown and someone who has not been fully vetted, it's beyond me," Ghean said.
* Claudine San Nicolas can be reached at claudine@mauinews.com.
