Former state Board of Education member Kim Coco Iwamoto tonight shot out to an early lead over state House Speaker Scott Saiki to represent parts of downtown, Ala Moana and Kakaako in a Democratic Party primary election that holds the future of the House leadership at stake.

In their last Democratic primary election in 2022, Saiki beat Iwamoto by just 161 votes, with 2,680 votes compared with 2,519 for Iwamoto.

Following the first printout results tonight as of about 7:25 p.m., Iwamoto had a lead of 206 votes over Saiki.

With tonight’s first election returns again close, it’s possible the final results of the House 25 seat may not be determined until Sunday morning when all of the votes are expected to be counted.

As of Friday night, over 229,000 registered voters had cast ballots, most of them via mail-in ballots.

The other House primary race generating attention pits state Rep. Trish La Chica (D, Waipio-Mililani) against political newcomer Ken Inouye, the son of the late U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye.

La Chica jumped to a commanding lead in the first election returns tonight over Inouye.

In Senate District 23, Democrat Ben Shafer had 56% to 44% lead over former state Sen. Clayton Hee. The winner will face Republican incumbent Sen. Brenton Awa, who is running unopposed.

Click here to view the latest results from the 2024 primary election.