In 2004, Bainum ran for Mayor of Honolulu in the state of Hawaii, but lost to former White House Aide Mufi Hannemann.
[2] While there, Bainum's colleagues nicknamed him "Duke" because his Arkansas accent made him sound like John Wayne.
[2] After becoming a physician, Bainum treated patients in Nepal for three months, helped Kauai residents after Hurricane Iniki, and from 1987 to 2004 was an on-call doctor at the Sex Abuse Treatment Center in Honolulu.
In January 2008, Bainum again returned to the political ring and won Honolulu City Council seat District 5, running unopposed, although not without controversy, as some questioned whether he was a legal resident of Hawaii at the time.
[5] Bainum's unexpected death was the second to hit the City Council in six months (Barbara Marshall died in February).