Incumbent Maui Mayor Victorino is defeated; Kauai mayor reelected

Challenger Richard Bissen convincingly beat incumbent Michael Victorino in the hotly contested race for Maui County mayor.

With nearly 35,000 votes counted after the night’s second printout, Bissen, the former Maui Circuit Court judge and county prosecutor, was leading with 59% of the vote, while the first-term mayor tallied only 41%.

On Kauai, Mayor Derek Kawakami cruised to an easy victory over challenger Michael Roven Poai.

Bissen, 60, celebrated his election night success in a festive gathering with supporters at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

He retired as chief judge of the 2nd Circuit Court in 2021 after 16 years on the bench. Previously, he served eight years as Maui County’s prosecuting attorney before working as first deputy state attorney general and acting director of the state Department of Public Safety.

Bissen joined the mayoral race early and ran hard in a well-organized, high-profile campaign, meeting with community groups and organizations of all stripes. He raised more contributions than the incumbent mayor overall, and in just the closing weeks of the campaign by more than $70,000.

Along the way, Bissen captured some highly prized endorsements, including from the Maui Chamber of Commerce, Hawaii Government Employees Association and Hawaii Carpenters Union.

Bissen is the first Maui mayor who didn’t first serve on the County Council or its predecessor Board of Supervisors. He would be the ninth mayor of Maui County, a position that was created in 1969.

Victorino, the 70-year-old former insurance executive, McDonald’s restaurant manager and father of ex-Major League Baseball player Shane Victorino, was elected mayor in 2018 after reaching a 10-year term limit as a Council member.

In a text from his election night party at the Kahului Shopping Center, Victorino thanked “all the people who supported me. I’m truly grateful.”

Victorino’s first term was not easy. He faced solid resistance from a progressive-led County Council while steering Maui through the economic pain and uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a tourism rebound that was unwelcomed by many.

He angered progressives when he ignored the Council’s request that he settle a lawsuit over Lahaina injection wells and instead took the divisive issue to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the county lost.

In 2021 he survived a recall campaign by residents angry over COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other grievances.

For the neighbor islands, all of the County Council seats were up for election on Kauai and Maui, while only one seat was up for grabs on Hawaii island.

In Kauai County seven of the 14 candidates emerged victorious Tuesday after the field was whittled down from the 19 hopefuls in the August primary election.

The top seven finishers in descending order were incumbents Luke Evslin and Bernard Carvalho, challenger Addison Bulosan, former Council member Mel Rapozo, incumbent KipuKai Kuali‘i, challenger Ross Kagawa and incumbent Felicia Cowden. With the final results still pending, fewer than 300 votes separated Cowden from eighth-place finisher and incumbent Billy DeCosta.

On Maui all the incumbents on the ballot appear to be returning to office, although Lanai incumbent Gabe Johnson held only a slight lead late Tuesday night over former Council member Riki Hokama.

The returning incumbents are Shane Sinenci for the East Maui seat, Tamara Paltin for the West Maui seat, Alice Lee for the Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu seat, Tasha Kama for the Kahului seat, Yuki Lei Sugimura for the Upcountry seat and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez for the Molokai seat.

Newcomer Tom Cook took the South Maui seat vacated by Kelly Takaya King, who ran for mayor and lost in the primary.

Nohe Uu-Hodgins captured the Makawao-Haiku-Paia seat being vacated by Mike Molina, who also made an unsuccessful bid for mayor in the primary.

On Hawaii island, Jennifer Kagiwada appeared headed to victory over challenger Matthias Kusch in the District 2 race, which includes downtown Hilo.