With environmentalists on one side and development interests on the other, the race in the Democratic primary for House District 48 is shaping up into one of the closest contests of this primary season.

The race features Robert Harris, 39, of the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter, against political newcomer Jarrett Keohokalole, 30, an attorney with the state Department of Land and Natural Resources who works on invasive species issues.

The seat opened up after Democrat Jessica Wooley, a progressive and environmental advocate, gave up the seat to become director of the state Office of Environmental Quality Control. Although George Okuda was appointed to fill the remainder of Wooley’s term, Okuda has said he has no interest in running for the office.

Harris had campaigned for Wooley in 2012 as part of a progressive and labor coalition that helped her defeat former state House Majority Leader Pono Chong, a moderate. Chong was placed into the same district after political boundaries were redrawn following the 2010 census.

The district leans Democratic, but constituents have plenty of candidates to choose from this year. The winner of the Democratic primary would face no fewer than three opponents in November: Republican Eldean Kukahiko, a retired police officer and senior pastor at Hope Chapel Kahaluu who is among the candidates motivated by the gay marriage debate to run this election season, as well as Libertarian Kaimanu Takayama and nonpartisan candidate Kana Naipo. All three are unopposed in their primaries.

The Democratic primary has attracted most of the attention so far.

Through hiswork with the Sierra Club, Harris has been a vocal opponent of large-scale Oahu development projects such as Hoo­pili and Koa Ridge. Not surprisingly, he has earned endorsements and campaign donations from environment and renewable energy groups, including the Sierra Club, the Alliance for Solar Choice, Hawaii Solar Energy Association PAC, Interisland Solar and others.

His backers have contributed $45,000 to his campaign through the first six months of the year, according to the latest reports filed with the state Campaign Spending Commission. Harris still had $26,000 for the rest of the race and $10,000 in debt.

"I’ve represented several businesses in the area and actually helped keep them in Kaneohe," Harris said. "That’s why I’ve received endorsements from a number of companies because, without me, they would no longer be doing business in Kaneohe. I’ve gotten fairly strong support from the solar industry, in large part because of my efforts in helping grow that industry into what it is today."

For supporters such as the Rev. Bob Nakata, a community advocate and former state House representative, Harris’ efforts to address climate change were primarily what won his backing.

"I think that is one of the major issues facing the state over the next generation," Nakata said. "But he also is somebody who listens to people and has the ability, I think, to talk to people, even if they may not agree with him — that is also a very important consideration.

"He listens far more than most … die-hard environmentalists. He does listen to, I think, reasonable arguments."

Harris, who went to Kalaheo High School and then on to the University of Hawaii and the Richardson School of Law, said his role as director of the Sierra Club has given him the opportunity to see the Legislature from the outside, but now he sees the importance of having someone inside the Legislature.

"We’ve been talking about trying to make Hawaii more sustainable for years now — diversifying our economy, trying to grow more food locally," Harris said. "I would like to be somebody who actually tries to work on those problems rather simply than just talking about them."

Keohokalole, whose father was a construction worker and a district representative for the Operating Engineers Local 3, has drawn support from a cross-section of construction and development groups and labor unions, including the Operating Engineers, Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, the Plasterers and Cement Masons, United Public Workers, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

His campaign has pulled in $42,000 from January through June, with $29,000 still on hand and $2,900 in debt.

"I’m proud of the blue-collar endorsements that I’ve received," Keohokalole said. "I’m proud of my connection to labor. I think Kaneohe is a working-class community. That’s why I hold signs at 5:30 in the morning, because there are a lot of construction workers."

On construction and development, "I think that we do need to look at how development is going to proceed going forward," he added. "Growth is a reality, and we need to address the affordable housing issue in our state."

Aside from his work at DLNR, Keohokalole also has done policy work with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands. He is a former member of the Kaneohe Neighborhood Board and serves as an at-large member of the Hawaiian Affairs Caucus of the Democratic Party of Hawaii.

He cites the impact of "brain drain" — the best and brightest from Hawaii leaving the state because of the high cost of living — as one of his top priorities.

"We’re losing a big portion of not only our tax base, but our labor force and our local people," he said.

Additionally, Keohokalole said he can identify with the people of the district. As the seventh generation of his family to live in the district, his ties run deep. And although he moved to the mainland for a short time, he returned because he wanted to raise his family in the community where he grew up.

Keohokalole attended King Intermediate and Saint Louis School before moving on to UH and the Richardson Law School.

"I live in Kahaluu now … I’m raising my kids here and going through a lot of the struggles as families in the district who are going to try and stay here and try and raise families here," he said. "So I think that I can relate to a lot of the issues and concerns of the residents of our district."

His story and pursuits were attractive to the United Public Workers PAC, said Flo Kong Kee, a government affairs specialist for the union, which endorsed Keohokalole.

"The members felt that he represented the values that we find most important, which is family, ohana, and that he was going to not just be good for the district, but really to be good for Hawaii," she said. "When our members talked to him we had an opportunity to talk with him about what was important. One was creating opportunities for the next generation like his children … creating jobs so young people like him can not just stay here in Hawaii but be able to make a living to raise their children."