He is as comfortable in a corporate boardroom as he is at a beach park picnic in La'ie.

The man who always introduces himself as "Mufi" is in constant motion with a seven-day-a-week public schedule that spans breakfast meetings to Little League opening ceremonies to late-night bon dances.

The pace doesn't bother Mayor Muliufi Francis "Mufi" Hannemann. In fact he's hoping voters will give him another four years on Saturday.

The 54-year-old Hannemann has been running for office for more than two decades and has lost as often as he has won. But that could change this week as he is favored to win the 2008 mayoral race, if not outright on Saturday, then in a runoff on Nov. 4.

Despite the controversy over Hannemann's proposal to build a $3.7 billion commuter rail project, the mayor's approval rating sits at 80 percent and he has raised nearly $3 million during his re-election campaign.

His two opponents, University of Hawai'i civil engineer Panos Prevedouros and City Council member Ann Kobayashi, combined have not raised a 10th of what Hannemann has accumulated.

"I never at any time thought this election was going to be a cakewalk," Hannemann said. "I never, never thought for one second that someone would not emerge to challenge me. I treat everybody legitimately and with deference. As far as I'm concerned, there are nine people vying for this and I have to prove I deserve to be rehired."

Hannemann's popularity is a testament to his tireless campaigning and a genuine desire to get out and meet with the people.

At 6 feet 7, he is recognized nearly everywhere he goes on O'ahu and he makes an effort to shake every hand he can.

He is serious when discussing policy and political issues but can quickly turn on a smile and is always a prompt away from breaking into song.

The former student body president and basketball standout at 'Iolani School worked his way from the streets of Kalihi to the classrooms at Harvard, earning a Fulbright Scholarship to New Zealand before taking his talents to the White House and eventually to the boardrooms of C. Brewer Co. Ltd., one of Hawai'i's "Big Five" companies.

After two unsuccessful runs for Congress, Hannemann won a seat on the City Council in 1994 and re-election in 1998.

He eventually gave up the seat to run unsuccessfully against former Mayor Jeremy Harris in 2000.

In 2004, he narrowly defeated former City Councilman Duke Bainum in a run-off election despite Bainum's sizable fundraising advantage.

Despite the rail protests and public clashes over the expansion of the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill that put him at odds with state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa, and an ongoing dispute with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over wastewater treatment criteria, Hannemann has maintained solid support from the public.

Hannemann brushed off attacks from Prevedouros and Kobayashi during a live debate at the Hawai'i Theatre on Sept. 9. As the frontrunner, he played it safe.

"He took an exalted, enlightened posture" during the debate, said Neal Milner, ombudsman and a political scientist at UH.

"There doesn't seem to be anything to throw a person with a gazillion-dollar campaign chest off course on this one."

If Hannemann wins a second term, he said he will focus on getting the rail project on track and wants to use it as part of a plan to revive Honolulu's ailing economy.

Construction of the elevated commuter line is to begin late next year if voters approve it on Nov. 4.

Rail opponents gathered nearly 50,000 signatures on a petition to place the issue on the ballot and, in the process, criticized Hannemann's handling of the project.

Hannemann said he supports having the issue on the ballot but was upset with how rail opponents characterize the project.

He said the opponents made it sound as if the project was "being rammed down people's throats" by him.

While he did push hard for steel wheel on steel rail technology, Hannemann said there was good reason for that.

"It's what the federal government funds. Ninety percent of the projects funded since 1992 have been steel on steel. That's the big compelling reason why I don't want to revisit the issue."

Other priorities in a second Hannemann administration would include improving the city of Kapolei. The so-called Second City needs to be built up and backed by increased infrastructure so that the second city vision is realized.

Hannemann said there is also much work that needs to be done to core city services, and that sewer, road and critical infrastructure repairs remain a focus.

He wants to continue to explore new technology that would allow for more recycling and decrease the flow of waste heading into the Waimanalo Gulch Landfill.

All of the work that is necessary to run a city must be balanced with maintaining Waikiki and world-class attractions such as the Honolulu Zoo and Honolulu's beach parks and public spaces.

"I want to continue to do the work that we set out to do in 2004. I made a campaign pledge to be much more fiscally accountable, and to focus on basic city services," Hannemann said. "With the economy starting to soften, we're going to have to ramp up our efforts on the economic side."

FAITH, FAMILY

Born in Honolulu in 1954, Hannemann was the sixth of seven children in a family of Samoan, German and English ancestry. His parents emigrated from American Samoa to Guam then moved to Kalihi in 1953. As with his parents, Gustav and Faiaso, Hannemann is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

He does not impose his religion on others and is welcoming of all faiths, said David Hannemann, Mufi's uncle and the former president of the Polynesian Cultural Center.

"The Samoans are noted for giving themselves to the service of others, for losing ourselves in the service of others, just as the Hawaiians do and the Polynesians are that way. Mufi was brought up in that atmosphere," David Hannemann said.

Gustav Hannemann worked two jobs, one at the Foremost Dairy and the other in the shoe department at Sears Roebuck.

Faiaso Hannemann, was the daughter of a Samoan Chief, and taught her brood the value of hard work and sharing.

The family was musical, as Gustav played the flute and Faiaso the guitar while singing with their children while playing various instruments.

Gus Hannemann, Mufi's eldest brother, recalls how quickly his little brother, known as "the kid," overtook the talents of his other brothers and sisters.

Gus Hannemann said he was known as the family orator, but that Mufi took it to another level. He said that brother Nephi Hannemann was known as the singer, but Mufi soon surpassed his skills.

Gus and Mufi Hannemann speak every day and Mufi Hannemann often consults his older brother when confronted with difficult issues.

"Whenever he calls for my opinion I give him my opinion and I say Mufi you have to pray about it. I don't always agree with him and I tell him what I think," Gus Hannemann said.

Mufi and Gail Mukaihata Hannemann were married in 1992, the first wedding for each. Mukaihata Hannemann runs the Girl Scout Council of Hawai'i. The couple live in 'Aiea and have no children.

POLITICAL CALLING

Hannemann made his first bid for public office at the age of 32, when he ran for Congress as a Democrat in 1986 to replace Cec Heftel, who decided to run for governor and stepped down from the House seat that represents urban Honolulu.

Hannemann lost but was not deterred and four years later, he ran for the U.S. House district that represents rural O'ahu and the Neighbor Islands. He lost that race to Patsy Mink in the Democratic primary.

In 1991, Hannemann joined the administration of Gov. John Waihee as head of international relations, and soon became director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

"Mufi was the kind of person who liked to get things done," Waihee said.

In 1994, Hannemann ran for City Council to replace Arnold Morgado, winning more than 51 percent of the vote in a race that included five other candidates. He won re-election in 1998 unopposed and decided to take on Harris, the incumbent mayor, in 2000 — a race he lost.

Hannemann says he has no regrets about the 2000 mayoral race.

"I was upset with the way the administration was treating the city but I didn't sit around and complain. I gave up my safe seat and I ran," Hannemann said.

In 2004, he defeated Bainum by roughly 1,300 votes out of the more than 294,000 cast. Hannemann won 50.2 percent to Bainum's 49.8 percent.

'BULLY' LABEL

Political opponents have called Hannemann a "bully."

Kobayashi, a former friend and political ally, used the word during the campaign's only televised debate at the Hawai'i Theatre last week.

During his second mayoral campaign in 2004, former City Councilman Steve Holmes said Hannemann became so heated on one occasion, he thought a council meeting would degenerate into a fistfight.

The reputation has lingered but Hannemann says the assessment is the misinterpreted opinion of his passion.

"The description of bully is one that people use when they cannot outdebate me or when they cannot outsmart me. They go to bully because that's a convenient term to use when someone is 6 feet 7 inches and Polynesian and has a sports background," Hannemann said. "Everybody knows I love to debate. I love to sit at a table and go back and forth. I'm not afraid to have my ideas discussed and vetted."

Milner, a longtime political observer, said despite opponents' attempts to paint him as a bully, Hannemann has been able to nurture and maintain a different public persona.

"There may be a lot of politicians who think he's a bully but that doesn't carry into the broader public," Milner said.

Longtime supporters of Hannemann say the bully label is unwarranted.

Bert T. Kobayashi Jr., a Honolulu attorney who has known Hannemann for more than 20 years and has hosted fundraisers for him at his private home, said he has never once seen or heard of Hannemann using intimidation as a tool.

"I've never seen him bully anyone. I think he's a passionate leader but if you're 6 feet 7 inches and you're Samoan and you're on the other side of a position, I guess you could be considered a bully even if he is not. He's physically imposing and that could be misinterpreted," Kobayashi said.