Republican congressional candidate Quentin Kawana-nakoa yesterday urged his primary opponent, state Sen. Bob Hogue, to suspend writing a weekly sports column for MidWeek during the campaign.

Kawananakoa claimed in a press release that the column gives Hogue "an unethical political advantage."

Hogue, who has been writing the sports column for nearly two decades, said he has no intention of giving it up.

Kawananakoa said Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona have given up their weekly radio shows for the campaign season and that Jerry Coffee, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, has voluntarily suspended his weekly political column in MidWeek.

"Newspapers may not be covered by equal-time and equal-space provisions that apply to broadcast media, but Hawai'i's Republican candidates have always prided themselves on being governed by a higher standard," Kawananakoa said in a statement. "Mr. Hogue's columns give him a weekly communications channel to voters in the 2nd Congressional District that is denied to other candidates of any political party."

Hogue said that unlike Kawananakoa, an heir to Hawaiian royalty, he does not have the personal wealth to stop working during the campaign.

"I'm disappointed that this has even come up," Hogue said. "I have a right to make a living."

Kawananakoa and Hogue are running in the Republican primary for the U.S. House to replace U.S. Rep. Ed Case, who is leaving the seat to run for Senate in the Democratic primary against U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka.