Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi was unable to win a majority of votes and will face his former boss, two-term mayor Harry Kim, in the general election.
Kenoi led the entire evening, while Kim stayed behind him by 8 percentage points.
Kim made a last-minute entry into what had been a two-way race between Kenoi and Council Chairman Dominic Yagong.
Yagong, who trailed a distant third, conceded the race after more than 30,000 votes had been tallied. However, he said he would not ask his supporters Saturday night to support either candidate.
"As the days unfold, we will come out and support one candidate or another," he said.
After the early votes were in, Yagong said he would have been in the lead if Kim had not entered the race.
"The Harry Kim factor" was always the question, Yagong said. "Every vote for Harry or me is a vote against Billy. …
"It’s quite clear that we would be ahead right now" if Kim had not run, Yagong said.
Yagong, a fiscal conservative and Council chairman, was Kenoi’s biggest critic during the campaign.
Kenoi, who was supported by public worker unions, seemed to have the clear advantage.
But Kim, a former Civil Defense administrator, was a familiar voice to voters and had nearly twice as many votes as Yagong in the initial election results.
Kim said he had 40 years of public work for voters to judge him on.
Kim, 72, who served as mayor from 2000 to 2008, entered the race late in the game, surprising many since he had hired Kenoi as his executive assistant after he was elected in 2000.
He said he wanted to bring a community voice back to government.
Kenoi was confident that despite the lack of a majority in the early results, he would prevail in the end.
"We’re very thankful and appreciative of all of our volunteers, and it speaks to their hard work," he said. "Our message of accomplishment and achievement has resonated with voters of Hawaii island. If the campaign continues a couple months, we have had a positive message and positive campaign with people of Hawaii island."
Later in the evening, Kim said Kenoi "has a very good lead with approximately 8 percent, and that’s a substantial lead.
"That’s a big gap to close."
He added, "There’s a long three months’ campaign coming up, and you need to work harder to help the public know why you’re in this race."
He said he was urged to run because he had a different, nonconfrontational style.
Kenoi spent roughly $475,000, while Yagong raised about $23,000 and Kim trailed far behind, accepting only donations of up to $10 per person.
Yagong has criticized Kenoi for his spending, but Kenoi prides himself on having balanced the budget during a difficult economic time, cutting 222 county positions.
Kim has been criticized for growing government.
