Political newcomer Trevor Ozawa beat former state Rep. Tommy Waters by just 47 votes for the Honolulu City Council District 4 seat to represent East Honolulu.

The victory by Ozawa, 31, marks an upset of sorts for the better-known Waters, 49, who spent six years in the state House and is a close political ally of Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Incumbent Councilwoman Carol Fukunaga, meanwhile, cruised past former state Rep. Sam Aiona to win a full, four-year term to the District 6 seat representing Kakaako-Kalihi.

Ozawa’s only political experience has been six months as an aide to Councilman Stanley Chang, the current District 4 representative at City Hall. Chang declined to endorse any candidate in the race.

Ozawa trailed Waters most of the night, but pulled ahead by 54 votes in the tally announced shortly after 10 p.m. The vote count announced at 11:30 p.m. put his lead at 47. Drop-off ballots from precincts on Hawaii island were the only remaining votes to be counted. 

Ozawa, an attorney, pointed to his youth and independent streak as strengths. He criticized Caldwell and several of his key aides who threw support behind his opponent.

The 49-year-old Waters, also an attorney, spent six years in the state House representing the 51st District (Kailua-Waimanalo), including stints heading the high-profile Judiciary and Higher Education committees. In 2008, he announced he was not seeking a fourth term citing the need to focus on his family.

The race included an anti-Waters campaign instigated by an independent expenditure committee known as Hawaii Solutions, which sent mailers to voters accusing Waters of carpetbagging, moving into the district to run for an elective seat there. 

Both Ozawa and Waters condemned the mailers, with Ozawa insisting that he did not know who was behind the attack ads. Waters ackowledged that he moved "about the same time" Chang announced his plans to run for Congress instead of seeking another term on the Council, but stressed that he spent a majority of his life residing in East Honolulu.

As late as Monday, the Friends of Tommy Waters Facebook account posted that "baseless, last-minute attacks" were being launched via email anonymously. 

Waters and Ozawa emerged as the top two vote-getters from a field of four in the August first special election. 

In District 6, Fukunaga, 66, won a rematch of sorts over Aiona, 48.

Fukunaga, a longtime state senator, was the top vote-getter among four candidates in August while Aiona finished second. That’s also the order the two finished in 2012 when Fukunaga emerged ahead of the pack in a winner-take-all special election to fill the two remaining years on the term vacated by Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned in August to focus on her Congressional campaign.

Reminiscent of the Waters-Ozawa battle, Fukunaga has focused on her experience and collaborative style as a lawmaker while Aiona has portrayed himself as a go-getter who won’t be complacent.

In related news, Council Chairman Ernie Martin told the Hono-lulu Star-Advertiser that he has introduced a resolution that would have Councilman-elect Bran-don Ele-fante take his seat representing District 8 (Halawa Heights-Wai-pahu) on Nov. 12.

Former District 8 Councilman Breene Hari-moto, who opted against re-election to run for the state Senate’s 16th District (Pearl City-Aiea) seat, takes that seat Wednesday. His resignation from the Council took effect at 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to a memorandum he sent to Martin and other colleagues.

Elefante won the District 8 race outright in the August primary by collecting more than 50 percent of the votes cast against three other candidates.

Martin’s resolution, if approved by the remaining eight Council members at its Nov. 12 meeting, would allow Ele-fante to be sworn in that day instead of waiting until the first week of January.

Martin told the Star-Advertiser that the move is similar to that made two years ago when Joey Mana-han was allowed to take the District 7 seat in November after then-Councilman Romy Cachola resigned to take a House seat.

Also in August, Martin won re-election to the District 2 seat (North Shore-Mili-lani) easily by grabbing more than 50 percent of the vote against two lesser-known candidates.

Council members Ikaika Anderson, Ann Kobayashi, Joey Manahan, Ron Menor and Kymberly Pine are in the middle of four-year terms.