In the upcoming Nov. 5 general election, registered voters who expect to select candidates for City and County of Honolulu seats will be hard-pressed to find nominees.
That’s because all of the contested city races — namely, elections for mayor and City Council — were
decided during the Aug. 10 primary election.
It’s an unusual situation, and something that’s not happened in city-held elections in recent memory, according to Honolulu Election Administrator Rex Quidilla.
“In the time that I’ve been an election administrator, I’ve not seen this occur,” said Quidilla, who’s worked in his current post since 2017. “But I’ve been involved in elections since 1992 … and I can’t recall of a time when there were no contests for the City and County of Honolulu on the general election ballot.”
This year, he noted, “in all of the races that involved candidates, a victor was
determined in the primary election.”
“All of the victorious
candidates received a 50% plus one; (they) met that threshold,” he added.
Still, Quidilla said what the city will place on the Nov. 5 ballot are four proposed city charter amendments, including one related to city employee salaries, in addition to two state-level constitutional amendments.
According to Quidilla, the city will send out mail-in ballots on Oct. 15 and 16. “It should appear shortly thereafter in voters’ mailboxes,” he added.
According to the state Office of Elections, the registration deadline for the general election is Oct. 28.
In Honolulu’s 2024 primary election, winners for contested city seats were Mayor Rick Blangiardi, City Council member Esther Kia‘aina and Council member-elect Scott Nishimoto.
Final race results updated Aug. 15 show that Blangiardi, who ran against three challengers for Honolulu’s top elective office, garnered 124,434 votes, or 78%.
Blangiardi needed just over 50% to win and avoid
a general election runoff.
To continue as mayor,
an office that comes with
an annual salary of $209,856, Blangiardi raised over
$2.2 million, according to campaign filings — far surpassing any amounts his challengers had either raised or loaned to their
respective campaigns.
But the incumbent stated that money wasn’t the reason his reelection campaign bested this year’s competition.
“We always felt the best campaign strategy was putting our heads down, working hard and solving the city’s major challenges,” Blangiardi told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser before primary election results were released. “Our town halls gave Oahu residents an opportunity to learn of our day-to-day work, accomplishments and bring new issues to our attention for us to solve.”
Kia‘aina, who also ran against three opponents to retain her Council District 3 Windward Oahu seat, tallied 12,134 votes. or 58%.
Since 2021 she has represented Council District 3, which includes Ahuimanu, Heeia, Haiku, Kaneohe, Maunawili, Kailua, Olomana, Enchanted Lake
and Waimanalo.
Nishimoto ran against two competitors in the primary election but cruised to an outright victory as he tallied 13,329 votes, or 71%, for Council District 5, which encompasses urban Honolulu.
That seat was up for grabs after current Council member Calvin Say recently declared he would not seek reelection due to ongoing health concerns.
A lawyer and former
state House representative, Nishimoto will represent a district that spans Palolo Valley, St. Louis Heights, Manoa, Moiliili, McCully, Ala Moana, Makiki and portions of Kakaako.
Incumbents who ran unopposed and won by default included city Prosecuting Attorney Steven Alm. The former judge retained a position he’s held since 2021, and tallied 126,697 votes.
Three incumbent Honolulu Council members ran unopposed, too, capturing 100% of the votes in their
respective districts.
Final results for those races included District 7’s Radiant Cordero, representing areas from Kapalama Kai to Waimalu Kai, who received 9,801 votes.
District 9’s Augie Tulba, representing Waipahu, Iroquois Point, West Loch, Ewa Villages and portions of Ewa Beach, garnered 10,368 votes.
Andria Tupola, representing District 1, which spans portions of Ewa Beach and the Waianae Coast, gained 11,485 votes.
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