Joseph J. Fern - Political Career

Political Career

At the time the Democratic Party had been deadlocked with infighting although Fern could not be free from the feuds he preferred to avoid them. In 1907, Fern was influenced to run for a seat on the Honolulu Board of Supervisors. He won the election and served for two years before the creation of the office of Mayor of Honolulu. The office of mayor was created upon the insistence of Washington, DC despite the opposition of the Big Five oligarchy that dominated the economy of Hawaii. Fern was multilingual speaking Hawaiian, English, Japanese, Chinese, and Portuguese and used it to his advantage throughout his political career. Another advantage he had was with his avoidance of the Democratic infighting he made few enemies which resulted in relatively united support by Democrats for Fern. On January 4, 1909, Fern won the special election for the newly created mayor’s office by a margin of 7 votes and re-elected in the regular elections in 1910 with a margin of less than 100 votes. In 1915, he lost a reelection bid against Hawai'i Republican Party member John Lane. After leaving office Fern was appointed City Jailer by Sheriff Charles Rose. When Lane tried to run for reelection, Fern challenged his successor again and won by 300 votes.