Republican state Sen. Brenton Awa, 38, faces his first reelection contest on Nov. 5 against a fellow Native Hawaiian who’s a generation older, 65-year-old Democrat Ben Shafer, to represent a vast and diverse district that runs from the northern end of Kaneohe, up the Windward side and across the North Shore to Mokuleia.
Awa (R, Kaneohe-Laie- Mokuleia) insists he’s not campaigning, won’t post a single yard sign or take donations but wants to continue to serve his community, where he grew up wrestling for the Kahuku High School Red Raiders.
He’s running for reelection by “doing it for nothing,” Awa said. “We’re going to do it the way it should be done.”
Awa used his background as a television news anchor coupled with his video skills and Instagram following to report on a water well leak of 1 million gallons a month in Mokuleia that persisted for at least 10 years, and perhaps as long as 20 years, but records don’t go back that far.
The U.S. Army leases the state land and Awa said an Army general saw his video and prompted the state Department of Transportation to have the leak fixed within two weeks, saving both water and money on an island where residents have been asked to use water cautiously.
“A Senate seat carries power, even if you’re in the minority,” Awa said. “I have also used my ability to communicate, social media and journalism. I just tell people the facts and let them form their own opinions.”
Shafer, who traces his Hawaiian ancestry back centuries in and around Kahana Bay where he lives, defeated longtime former state Sen. Clayton Hee in the Aug. 10 Democratic primary.
Shafer works as a technician for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and represented his union on the Hawaii’s union umbrella, the AFL-CIO.
He opposed expansion of the Turtle Bay Resort and has the backing of powerful unions and former elected officials, some of whom served in office a generation ago.
Shafer supports term limits for state legislators who make up the only elected body in Hawaii that does not face a timetable to leave office. He also wants public campaign financing for all Hawaii politicians, which proponents argue will help reduce their dependence on donors and the risk of political corruption and bribery.
Perhaps more urgently for constituents, Shafer wants to look at best practices around the world to gird Windward Oahu and the North Shore against climate change, sea level rise and other damage that continues to batter the only road in and out of the coastal region and sometimes leads beachfront homes collapsing onto the sand along the North Shore.
He’s particularly interested in the possibility of building up Hawaii’s reefs to better protect against pounding waves.
“We need to supersize our resources,” Shafer said. “All of the islands need to have reef protection so waves won’t be beating up the shoreline and eroding the land. All we need is one big storm and all the areas that are susceptible will be beaten up.”
A ‘purple district’
The general election will test the will of voters in a district that, in general, includes more traditional, Asian Democratic voters in Kaneohe, more socially and religiously conservative Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders farther up the Windward side — especially around Laie — and a mix of progressives and conservatives on the North Shore.
“It’s obviously going to be a close race,” said Colin Moore, who teaches public policy at the University of Hawaii and serves as associate professor at the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization. “This race is about turnout. It’s a purple district and we don’t have a lot of those in Hawaii.”
The Aug. 10 party primaries resulted in a dismal turnout of 32.3% of registered voters bothering to cast ballots.
Awa won his Republican primary with 2,314 votes. Shafer won his Democratic primary with 3,359 votes.
But low turnout among both Republicans and Democrats could rebound in November when former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris square off in a race in which polling shows a statistical draw. And higher turnout could translate into more votes for Democratic and Republican candidates in Hawaii races further down the ballot.
Senate District 23 represents “a race where the presidential election could play a role in driving turnout,” Moore said. “It’s a place where both Democrats and Republicans draw support.”
Voters have a choice between a more traditional Democrat in Shafer and a nontraditional, independent Republican in Awa.
“The two candidates are so different in their approach to politics and campaigning,” Moore said. “Shafer’s older, not flashy, deeply rooted in the community and known for his opposition to the Turtle Bay expansion. He’s a union member with a traditional door-to-door campaign, but very much a low-key guy.”
Moore called the incumbent a different kind of Hawaii legislator who fights for populist causes over mainland-style “culture wars,” such as Awa’s unsuccessful bill that would have barred foreign purchases of island homes to discourage vacation rentals and make more homes available for local families.
The bill cleared the Senate but failed to get a hearing in the House.
Awa said he plans to introduce it again in the upcoming legislative session, if reelected.
Previously, he told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that opponents argue the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution bars individual states from creating similar laws. But Awa wants Hawaii, which needs an estimated 50,000 more affordable homes across the islands, to pass a law and defend it in the court system.
Moore called Awa “charismatic” and “tremendously good at social media. With his background as a news anchor and professional- looking Instagram page, he’s one of the most talented guys in the Legislature for earned media, if not the most talented.”
Awa and Shafer “both have a strong group of core supporters,” Moore said.
Shafer unsuccessfully ran for the Honolulu City Council 10 years ago on a campaign of “Keep the Country Country.” He came in third but insisted that his main goal was to keep the issue in the spotlight.
“It wasn’t about winning,” Shafer said. “It was about making sure that message is loud and clear.”
Before Hee entered the Democratic Party primary, Shafer said he only ran for the Senate this year to make sure the race was competitive, which he believes is healthy for the state and Hawaii politics.
“There should be opposition in every race,” he said.
He declined to criticize either Hee or Awa.
“I don’t want anything negative said about three Hawaiians,” Shafer said. “We need Hawaiians to thrive.”
Crossing the aisle
One of Awa’s first efforts after taking office in 2022 was to help renegotiate approximately 90 state land leases in Waiahole where farmers and home renters faced increases of 550% when their state leases expired.
“They were almost rioting,” Awa said. “We stopped that. We helped get them a rate that everyone agreed to after they realized, ‘OK, we’re not going to lose our homes.’ We prevented Waiahole residents from losing their homes right off the bat.”
He unsuccessfully introduced a bill requiring “food trees” be planted on state lands.
Instead, Awa worked with DOT Director Ed Sniffen to allow two community planting projects on opposite ends of his district that brought families out to help replace trees damaged by the invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle and learn about trees that Awa called not necessarily indigenous but “canoe crops” brought by the original sea voyagers from Tahiti.
Another of Awa’s Instagram videos generated donations to pay for trees, machinery and labor for ulu and mountain apple trees on state land in Kahaluu, where Awa lives, and dwarf coconut trees on state land in Haleiwa.
Awa was on the Senate committee that recommend to the full Senate that Sniffen be confirmed as DOT director. He insisted he did not “leverage” his vote for Sniffen to clear the way for community projects on state land.
Their relationship goes back to when Awa covered Sniffen as a journalist and “we have a bruddah to bruddah relationship,” Awa said.
“Ed Sniffen’s a good guy, Kamehameha Schools grad, a Hawaiian,” he said. “We get along. We went back to the media days where relationships form when you’re not a Republican, you’re not a Democrat.”
As one of only two Senate Republicans, Awa said he frequently crosses the political aisle to work with Democrats on projects that benefit their communities.
He’s currently working with state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole (D, Kaneohe-Kailua), whose district borders Awa’s, to help Marine Corps Base Hawaii upgrade its water- recycling plant so it can recycle water for landscaping rather use drinkable water.
Keohokalole chairs the Senate Native Hawaiian Caucus and co-chairs the Legislative Native Hawaiian Caucus.
When it comes to addressing community needs, Awa said, “I share aloha. With Jarrett we’re not a typical Democrat or Republican. We can put Hawaiians over everything. That’s where our relationship began.”
Stay updated on Hawaii and national elections coverage