LIHU‘E — With ballots mailed out Friday and drop boxes set up throughout the island Monday, Kaua‘i residents can now make election choices that will shape policy on the most-important issues of the day, from housing to COVID-19.
Ballots can be deposited in any of the official boxes, identified by their purple badging and the official seal of the County of Kaua‘i, accessible around the clock until 7 p.m. Aug. 13, the county reports.
This primary season, residents are asked to pick candidates for Kaua‘i County Council, Kaua‘i mayor, state representatives and state Senate, governor, lieutenant governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and the Office of Hawaiian Affairs.
It is a crowded field in the Kaua‘i County Council race, with 19 candidates seeking election to seven seats. Five incumbents — Felicia Cowden, Bernard Carvalho, Billy DeCosta, Luke Evslin and KipuKai Kuali‘i — seek to retain their seats, while former Councilmembers Ross Kagawa and Mel Rapozo hope to return to the job after terming out in 2020 and 2016 respectively.
Newcomers Dr. Addison Bulosan, Fern Holland, Rosemarie Jauch, James Langtad, Jeffrey Lindner, Lila Metzger, Nelson Mukai, Jakki Nelson, Roy Saito, Rachel Secretario, Shirley Simbre-Medeiros and Clint Yago are hoping to be elected to their first terms on the council.
The mayor and council elections are non-partisan, meaning candidates do not declare party membership and are grouped on one ballot section. Five of the 19 candidates will be eliminated in the primary, leaving 14 in the general election in November. Voters are allowed to choose seven candidates for council.
The mayor’s race features incumbent Derek Kawakami facing off against three challengers — Megeso-William Denis, Mitch McPeek and Michael Roven Poai. A runoff between the top two vote-getters is required if one mayoral candidate does not get more than 50% of the total votes cast in the primary. Mayoral, council and state House and Senate candidates’ answers to a variety of questions can be found on the TGI website.
At the state level, all 72 positions are up for grabs. But none of the incumbent representatives on Kaua‘i — state Senate President Ron Kouchi and state Reps. Jimmy Tokioka, Dee Morikawa and Nadine Nakamura — face primary challenges, and will instead wait to meet Republican and other party challengers in the fall.
Josh Green leads a contentious Democratic gubernatorial primary, with 48% of the vote compared to U.S. Rep. Kai Kahele’s 16% and businesswoman Vicky Cayetano’s 15%, according to a new Civil Beat/Hawai‘i News Now poll.
State Rep. Sylvia Luke is in the lead for the Democratic race for lieutenant governor with Civil Beat/Hawai‘i News Now polling showing that she has the support of 20% of prospective voters, followed by former Honolulu City Council Chair Ikaika Anderson with 14%, businessman Keith Amemiya with 10% and head of the Chamber of Commerce Hawai‘i Sherry Menor-McNamara at 7%.
Menor-McNamara held a sign-holding event in Lihu‘e earlier this month, where she touted her focus on neighbor islands and received support from some local business owners.
“She understands that small businesses are what really drives Hawai‘i,” said businessman Kurt Osaki, who was in attendance. “Without small businesses, we don’t get jobs, we don’t get careers.”
Former Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona leads the Republican gubernatorial primary contenders with 27% of the vote, followed by former UFC fighter B.J. Penn with 24% of the vote and Honolulu City Councilmember Heidi Tsuneyoshi with 9%, and businessman Gary Cordrey with 7%, July 6 polling says.
Ballot boxes are at the following locations:
• Hanalei Neighborhood Center, 5-5358 Kuhio Highway;
• Princeville Public Library, 4343 Emmalani Drive;
• Kilauea Neighborhood Center, 2460 Keneke Street;
• Waipouli Town Center, 4-0771 Kuhio Highway;
• Historic County Building Annex, Lihu‘e, 4386 Rice St.;
• Koloa Neighborhood Center, 3461 Weliweli Road;
• Kalaheo Neighborhood Center, 4480 Papalina Road;
• Hanapepe Recreation Center, 4451 Puolo Road;
• Waimea Neighborhood Center, 4556 Makeke Road.
The majority of Kaua‘i voters should have received ballots within three to five days of the mailing date. The first ballots were mailed Friday. Any registered voter who does not receive a ballot within seven days of the mailing date should contact the Office of the County Clerk Elections Division at 808-241-4800.
•••
Guthrie Scrimgeour, reporter, can be reached at 647-0329 or gscrimgeour@thegardenisland.com.
