Incumbent Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami received a majority of the votes in the primary election for the mayoral race and will advance to the Nov. 8 general election with first-time candidate Michael Roven Poai, a Kauai County parks and recreation employee.
Poai, and two other candidates, Mitch McPeek, a self-employed carpenter/maintenance handyman and Megeso-William Denis, a former Fortune 500 company executive, trailed behind Kawakami by a wide margin.
“We’re very pleased with the results,” Kawakami said Saturday night. “It’s a testament to the people that I have been able to surround myself with over my lifetime — whether it was at work at Big Save, our campaign team, who has just given so much time and effort, to my family, my wife, my daughter, my son, who made tremendous sacrifices.”
“And our administration, I got a great team. I let them do their work. I support them and they go out there and deliver,” he added.
At the start of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kawakami took an aggressive approach to manage the spread of the virus by implementing an islandwide nighttime curfew. The emergency rule occurred months before vaccines became available to residents. Airline travel to and from the island was also limited to essential needs.
To address affordable housing, more than 300 affordable units opened on the island during Kawakami’s first term, including 133 units at the workforce rental complex Koa’e Makana in Koloa that opened in 2021.
If reelected to a second term, Kawakami aims to continue with improvements to the island’s infrastructure, increase enforcement against illegal vacation rentals and secure more affordable housing.
Prior to his first mayoral term, Kawakami served on the Kauai County Council from 2008 to 2011 before he was appointed to a state House seat. After five years, Kawakami rejoined the County Council.
In the Kauai County Council race, 19 candidates vied for seven at-large seats. The top 14 vote-getters will advance to the general election. Incumbent Kauai County Councilmembers Bernard Carvalho Jr., Luke Evslin, KipuKai Kualii, Billy DeCosta and Felicia Cowden are among the candidates that will advance to the general election in the Council race.
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