The Hawaii Democratic Party has submitted to Gov. Josh Green the names of three people it has selected as possible candidates to succeed the late Rep. Mark Nakashima in state House District 1, representing Hamakua and parts of Hilo and Kaumana.
The three are Dwight Takamine, a longtime former state legislator and former director of the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations; Matthias Kusch, retired Hawaii Fire Department battalion chief and Bayfront Trails president; and Kristen Alice Apruzzese, director of community relations for Hope Services, a private nonprofit organization providing services to the unsheltered.
They were selected from seven party members who submitted nomination forms to be considered for the appointment.
The other four are Wendy Botelho, president/CEO of the Island of Hawaii YMCA; Koohan Paik-Mander, director of development of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action; Misty Carter, who described herself as a “market asset protection manager for a multibillion-dollar enterprise”; and Jo Kim, an attorney.
Green will select one of the three to fill the existing vacancy for the remainder of Nakashima’s current term. In addition, Nakashima — who died July 11, a week after the filing deadline for candidacy — would’ve run unopposed in both the primary and general elections had he lived, so the appointee will also serve the 2024-2026 term in District 1. The sprawling district encompasses the Hamakua Coast, North Hilo and part of South Hilo, including Kaumana.
Takamine, 71, has by far the most political experience, succeeding his late father, Yoshito Takamine, as the district’s state representative in 1984 and serving there until 2008, when he was elected to the state Senate.
In 2010, Takamine — a retired lawyer who has a lifelong affiliation with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union — was appointed by then-Gov. Neil Abercrombie as director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations. He served there until 2015, when Abercrombie, an incumbent, was unseated in the Democratic primary by then-state Sen. David Ige.
Takamine and his wife, Carol, live in Laupahoehoe. They have a blended family with three grown sons.
Asked why he wanted to return to the Legislature, Takamine recalled a lesson he learned from his father, an ILWU leader who served in the House for 26 years, starting in 1958, prior to statehood.
“He ingrained in me that when you receive support from the community, you never forget to give back,” Takamine said. “And given the circumstances, I thought this was an opportunity to give back — because so many of the opportunities I’ve received were created by people’s support. And I thought this would be not only an opportunity to honor a lesson, an important lesson, but also a value that my father taught me.”
Takamine said priorities for the district’s constituents include investing in public education, making land and housing more affordable and supporting agriculture.
Kusch, 58, is the Hawaii County Democratic Party chairman for District 1, which largely coincides with the House district boundaries.
He and his wife, Sunita, live in lower Kaumana and have three daughters.
Kusch ran for the County Council District 2 seat in 2022. It came down to a general election runoff in the nonpartisan race, with Jenn Kagiwada defeating Kusch by 240 votes.
He cited the three most important priorities for the district as solutions to ease the cost of living, ensuring support of infrastructure — including roads, wastewater, electricity and broadband — and land-use adjustment to revitalize the small towns along the Hamakua Coast.
“I have this desire to serve our area, and I have a long history along the Hamakua Coast, being a captain in Honokaa and having a farm in Pepeekeo,” Kusch said. “I still have a farm, and I have a good relationship with the constituents.”
Apruzzese, 37, the District 1 representative for the Democratic Party of Hawaii’s State Central Committee, lives in Kaumana with her partner and two rescue dogs. She said she’d like to be a legislator “for the same reason I work for Hope Services. I want to help my community.”
“I’ve testified on bills, and I’ve followed politics pretty much my entire life,” said Apruzzese, who’s known simply as Kristen Alice.
“I’d like to see more equitable policy proposals that would make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors,” she said. “I’ve seen too many good bills get pushed aside or watered down — and I see how they could’ve impacted people directly. I would like to bring that experience and advocate for bills and policies that would directly help the people we serve in the community.”
In a written profile, Apruzzese described her priorities for the district’s constituents as “making decent housing attainable for local people earning local wages; improving infrastructure and protecting farms and the environment; improving education by advocating for fair compensation and working conditions for school teachers and staff.”
