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State Rep. Calvin Say filed nomination papers to run for Honolulu City Council this week, forgoing a reelection bid for the seat he’s held more than four decades.
Say was first elected in 1976 to serve in the House, where he represents Palolo Valley, Maunalani Heights and St. Louis Heights. His 14-year run as House speaker, from 1998 to 2012, made him the longest-serving gavel-holder in the Legislature since statehood.
Say is seeking the Council District 5 (Kaimuki-Makiki) seat now held by Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who is barred from seeking another consecutive term due to a term-limit rule. He has an intriguing challenger in Dave Watase, a retired engineer and St. Louis Heights resident.
Watase emerged as a community leader when he founded the Stop Ala Wai Project website after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified his Palolo property as a detention basin as part of the contentious $345 million Ala Wai flood mitigation project. Planners are now reconsidering the original design.
A third candidate in the race is Philmund Lee, a legislative attorney at the state Capitol since 1994 who has run unsuccessful campaigns for the state House, Honolulu mayor and Congress.
The District 5 race is one of only five Council seats up for grabs, none of which feature incumbents. That’s because the Honolulu City Charter prohibits anyone from serving more than two consecutive four-year terms.
Tuesday is the deadline for candidates to file nominations for the Aug. 8 primary.
With only nine Council seats on the island, the five new Council members may have an enormous role in determining policies at Honolulu Hale over the next four years.
As of Friday, here’s how the other four races shape up:
>> District 1 (Ewa Beach to Waianae): Former state Rep. Andria Tupola is the biggest name in the race for the seat now held by Councilwoman Kym Pine. Tupola, a former state representative, was the Republican nominee for governor in 2018, collecting 131,719 votes in her general election loss to Gov. David Ige.
At a press conference in February announcing her Council candidacy, Tupola acknowledged she is also “eyeing” the 2022 governor’s race, when Ige will not be eligible for re-election due to term limits.
Other notables in the race include Kathy Davenport, a retired Air Force major and small business owner who once worked as an aide to Pine; and Makana Paris, a research analyst for the Hawaii Ironworkers Stabilization Fund, president of the Prince Kuhio Hawaiian Civic Club and the nephew of T. George Paris, longtime managing director of the influential labor organization.
The others in the six-person field are longtime civil servant and current Neighborhood Commission executive assistant Naomi Hanohano; Makakilo resident and Campbell High School graduate Galen Kerfoot; and longtime neighborhood board member and community advocate James Manaku.
>> District 3 (Waimanalo to Kaneohe): There is a diverse field of six hopefuls vying for the seat now held by Council Chairman Ikaika Anderson. Several are known in the community but none have held elective office.
Esther Kiaaina, executive director of the Pacific Basin Development Council, was an assistant secretary of the Interior under President Barack Obama and has held other positions in Congress and state government. Greg Thielen is a home builder and small business owner, and is the son of outgoing state Rep. Cynthia Thielen and brother of outgoing state Sen. Laura Thielen.
Also serious contenders are Kalani Kalima, an elementary school teacher and community activist prominent in the recent protests against the city’s plans for Sherwood’s beach park in Waimanalo; and Alan Kekoa Texeira, who is Anderson’s deputy chief of staff and has served on various community councils and committees.
Others vying for the seat are Warland Kealoha, who has two decades of management experience and owns a small Kailua retail business; and Paul Mossman, a builder and general contractor.
>> District 7 (Kalihi to Foster Village): Vying for the seat now held by Councilman Joey Manahan are Jacob Aki, chief of staff to state Sen. J. Kalani English on Maui; Radiant Cordero, Manahan’s chief of staff, a writer and community advocate; Constante Domingo, a retired city and state civil servant who’s served on several neighborhood boards; and Ryan Mandado, a school administrator and a veteran of several neighborhood boards.
>> District 9 (Mililani to Ewa Beach): The race to succeed Councilman Ron Menor features a field of contrasting options. Comedian and businessman Augie Tulba, who has worked on the staffs of several elected officials, is making his first attempt at elective office. Former state Sen. Will Espero, who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2018, was formerly head of the Honolulu Neighborhood Commission.
The third candidate is Earl Tsuneyoshi, a major in the National Guard who works in real estate and is the brother-in-law of District 2 Councilwoman Heidi Tsuneyoshi.
Primary election day is Aug. 8, but this year’s Hawaii elections will be the first to use an all-mail format. Registered voters are expected to receive their ballots in the mail by July 21 or shortly thereafter.
In the nonpartisan city elections, all candidates in a race run off against each other in the primary election. If the top vote-getter does not finish with a majority of the votes cast, the top two finishers go head-to-head in the general election, which this year is slated for Nov. 3.
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