LIHU‘E — The county is one step closer to electing its next prosecuting attorney.
As of Saturday’s election night, Rebecca “Becky” Like garnered 8,184 votes, over Shaylene Iseri, who came in with 3,645 votes in the county’s special primary election for prosecuting attorney, according to a first print-out of results.
Just over 11,829 residents voted in this mail-in election, signaling a 24% turnout.
This is just the first round between Iseri and Like, who will both be on the general-election ballot in February.
Like, who is acting prosecutor, stepped into this current role after serving as deputy prosecutor for the last 11 years, and as the second deputy prosecuting attorney for the last nine under former Prosecuting Attorney Justin Kollar, who announced his September resignation in July of this year, leaving about three years left of this term.
Kollar served as prosecuting attorney since 2012, when he beat Iseri for the position.
Since leaving the OPA in 2012, Iseri has worked as a family and criminal-law attorney at her own firm. She previously served four years on the Kaua‘i County Council and four as the prosecuting attorney.
The Kaua‘i County Charter states that a special primary election must be held within 45 days after the vacancy and a special general election to follow, requiring both elections to take place. The remaining term of the county prosecuting attorney is through Dec. 1, 2024.
The special general election will again be by mail with an option to vote in person with the mailed ballots. Results will be revealed coming Feb. 26, 2022. Ballots will be mailed on or before Feb. 1.
This article was updated at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 19, 2021 to correct how long Iseri was prosecuting attorney. It was four years, not eight.
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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
