Council aide announces bid for open seat

Honolulu City Council aide Brandon Elefante announced Thursday that he will run for the seat being left open by his boss, Councilman Breene Harimoto.

Elefante, 28, has worked as a legislative aide to Harimoto for nearly four years. Before that, he worked for state Sen. Will Espero. Both Harimoto and Espero attended Elefante’s announcement at Honolulu Hale.

Elefante was born and raised in Aiea. Council District VIII emcompasses Aiea, Pearl City and Waipahu. Before working in government, he was a teacher and coach at Damien Memorial High School.

Harimoto announced Wednesday that he will forego a re-election bid to instead run for the state Senate seat now occupied by David Ige, who is challenging Gov. Neil Abercrombie for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.