The Democratic Party of Hawaii released a statement Tuesday (Feb. 7) calling on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Linda Lingle ”to denounce a racially charged political ad targeting Asian Americans run by one of her mainland Republican colleagues.”

“Governor Lingle should follow Senator Dan Inouye’s lead and condemn her fellow Republican Pete Hoekstra’s racist ad,” said Chuck Freedman, party spokesman. He included a link to a story about the ad.

In response, Lingle campaign Manager Bob Lee said, ”Governor Lingle believes that any advertisement which denigrates any ethnic group is both offensive and doesn’t reflect Hawaii values.”

Lee continued with a dig of his own: “I am very surprised that Dante Carpenter, who knows Gov. Lingle very well, would allow Chuck Freedman to release a Democrat Party statement that is false, and is nothing more than political gamesmanship.”