Honestly, the Aug. 10 Kaua‘i primary election was pretty boring, unless of course you are council member Billy DeCosta, Ana Mo Des, Clint Yago or Jeffrey Linder, who all fell short of expectations.
DeCosta was the only sitting member of the council who failed to make it into the top seven. He ended the evening out of the money in eighth position.
Candidate Fern Anuenue Holland was the top newcomer in the race coming in at nine, just 172 votes below DeCosta and 777 votes below incumbent council member Addison Bulosan, who held on to the bottom of the winners list at seven.
Below Holland sits Abe Apilado in 10th place, or 3,451 short of the coveted seven slot held by Bulosan.
All are part of the top 14, who will go through to the November General Election, where the top seven vote-getters will ultimately be seated in the historic County Building council chambers.
Only three candidates, Ana Mo Des, Clint Yago and Jeffrey Lindner failed to make the top 14 cut and will not be on the November ballot.
What does all this mean to the candidates scrambling now to organize their campaigns for the next three months?
The bottom line political reality is for any candidate to “move up” into that coveted seven slot, means some other candidate have to move down. The only two candidates appearing to have a shot at overtaking Bulosan are DeCosta and Holland.
A close look at council races in the past will show it’s very rare for any candidate to move up to seven from 10 or below 11, 12, 13 or 14.
With money and hard work, it’s possible. But most followers of Kaua‘i council elections will tell you that moving from the 10 slot or below to finish seven or above is highly unlikely.
Remember, it’s like dominoes. At the moment, DeCosta and Holland are both eyeing seven which Bulosan holds. Bulosan of course is looking at how he can “move up” to position six held now by council member Felicia Cowden or five now held by council member Kualii or even take four from council member Ross Kagawa.
The three positions at the top are held pretty securely by former council member Arryl Kaneshiro at three, County Council Chair Mel Rapozo at two and sitting fairly comfortably as king of the hill is former mayor and now council member Bernard Carvalho.
But yes, anything can happen.
To stir the pot of speculation even further, in 2026 Kaua‘i will elect a new Mayor.
The names bandied about most frequently as possibly contenders for that seat include Kaneshiro, Rapozo, Carvalho and former council member Mason Chock.
Bottom line: The council race is essentially now between six candidates — Holland, DeCosta, Bulosan, Cowden, Kualii and Kagawa. These six are competing for only four slots with just 1,692 votes separating Holland from Kagawa. At the end of the day, two of them will end up sitting at eight and nine, and then getting back into the line again for 2026.
Yes, anything can happen and there will likely be surprises along the way.
Any candidate serious about winning will be out in the community during the upcoming months, working hard to meet voters and earn votes.
They also must be able to raise and spend the money needed to fund basic materials and the advertising needed for a serious winning campaign.
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Gary Hooser served eight years in the state Senate, where he was majority leader. He also served for eight years on the Kaua‘i County Council. He presently writes on Hawai‘i Policy and Politics at www.garyhooser.blog.
