Lawmaker vying for state Senate caught stealing opponent’s campaign materials

EWA BEACH, OAHU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Just a day before the primary election, a video is making the rounds online that shows state Rep. Matt LoPresti stealing his opponent's campaign handout off of a resident's door.

The video was captured by a video doorbell.

In a statement, LoPresti acknowledged he stole the flyer and others, and then went back to return some and apologize to residents.

"Political campaigns can be intense and emotions can cloud otherwise good judgment of even the best people," LoPresti said, in the statement. "I sincerely apologize and have deep regret over my having taken some of those flyers."

"What this video does not show, however, is that very same day I returned flyers that were taken.

"I am grateful for the opportunity to come clean and admit my own failures and promise to my family, my friends, my opponent and my community to keep on the high road in the future no matter how negative a campaign gets or how clouded my emotions become."

LoPresti is running for the seat vacated by Will Espero, who's running for lieutenant governor.

In the doorbell video, he can be seen taking a campaign handout for opponent Alicia Maluafiti off a door and putting it under other papers on his clipboard. A resident at the door then answers and LoPresti introduces himself and explains which seat he's running for.

Maluafiti is among those who posted the video online.

"My opponent, Matt LoPresti, stealing my walking piece which I use when I go door to door," she wrote, in the Facebook post. "Who knows how many more went missing?"

LoPresti represents House District 41, a seat that runs from Ewa to Ocean Pointe.

He's running for Senate District 19 (Ewa Beach-Ocean Pointe-Iroquois Point).

This story will be updated.

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