The state Republican Party on Wednesday abruptly and mysteriously abandoned a campaign against Democratic leaders over a legislator who stood up for a friend convicted of enticing a child through the Internet.

The party previously had made computer-generated "robocalls" to voters in the Maui district of Rep. Joe Bertram, D-Makena-Kihei. Earlier this month, Bertram appeared at the sentencing hearing of Mark Marcantonio and told the judge that the enticement statute penalized "imaginary crime."

Some of the robocalls critical of Bertram allowed recipients to connect with the office of the top House Democrat, House Speaker Calvin Say, which prompted complaints from Say.

On Tuesday, the state GOP ratcheted up its campaign by releasing a hard-hitting television ad that again knocked Bertram's remarks and leveled new criticism that the Maui legislator once employed on his staff a man convicted in the Philippines for having sex with a child.

The party was about to release a second TV ad and generate more robocalls designed to pressure Say and other Democratic leaders to censure Bertram, party Chairman Willes Lee said in an interview.

"We had planned to allow residents of the state to have a voice on an issue of morals that we believe resonates with all the people," Lee added.

But yesterday, those plans were canceled.

Lee would not say why the ad campaign was called off. Asked if he was instructed to stop the campaign, he replied, "No comment."

Say also refused to discuss the matter, and Bertram did not respond to a request for comment.

The sudden shift in tactics stood in contrast to Lee's previously combative tone about Bertram.

In an April 21 letter, Say asked Lee to identify the parties responsible for the robocalls and to help stop them because Say's office was being inundated with calls.

"They are obstructing the operations of the House speaker's office and preventing people who have specific business with this office from reaching me or from receiving the staff assistance they need," Say's letter stated.

Writing back on Tuesday, Lee said in part, "It appears that the Democrat one-party rule in the Legislature has led to such arrogance that concerned citizens contacting their elected officials is now seen as a 'disruption.' "

Earlier this month, Bertram said his comments at Mercantino's sentencing hearing were made as a private citizen, not as a legislator.

He stressed he does not condone enticement of minors for sex, or actually having sex with minors. But he said the law penalizes people for potential rather than actual behavior. Mercantino, who pleaded "no contest" to the charge, had been arrested in a police sting operation.

The former Bertram aide who the now-canceled Republican ads were to highlight is Leon Rouse, who was fired by a cruise line in 2004 for alleged sexual harassment.

From 1995 to 2003, Rouse was held in a prison in the Philippines for having sex with a 15-year-old boy and then granted a conditional pardon. He claimed he was framed and denied the child abuse charge.

Lee said he was pleased with the ad campaign.

"I don't care about Leon Rouse," Lee added. "I don't care personally about Mercantino. But I do care about the judgment the folks that are making our laws use when either condoning these activities or looking the other way."

Bertram has been criticized by one prominent Democrat, state party Chairman Brian Schatz. He said Bertram does not represent the views of the party or Democrats in general, noting that the lawmaker's friend was convicted of violating a law that was passed by a Democrat-controlled Legislature.