Big Island mayors Mitch Roth and Kimo Alameda are apparently facing a runoff election

Early results from the primary elections indicate that there will be little change in the Hawaii County Council this year, but the primary race between Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth and psychologist Kimo Alameda appears to be heading for a runoff election in the fall.

Roth, who is seeking a second term as county governor, received nearly 39% of the vote in early election results, while Alameda received just under 28%.

Far behind Roth and Alameda were Hilo businesswoman Breeani Kobayashi with 20% and Seaula “Junior” Tupai with less than 11%. Tupai was the Republican Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022, but the race for county mayor is nonpartisan.

Three lesser-known candidates in the race for mayor were Daniel Cunningham, Kavin Kahikina and Yumi Kawano, all of whom received less than 1%.

Hilo City Councilwoman Jennifer Kagiwada appeared on track to win the election handily, with early results showing her receiving more than 64% of the vote in her four-candidate race in the second district, which includes downtown Hilo, Waiakea Uka and Kaumana.

Kagiwada’s closest competitor was Blaine Bautista with 18%, followed by Gary Napoleon Jr. with nearly 12%. Grace Manipol had 5%.

In West Hawaii’s 8th District, which includes parts of Kailua-Kona and Waikoloa, Councilman Holeka Inaba also appeared to be on track to win the primary again in his race against Caryl Burns. Inaba had 71% in early results, while Burns got less than 29%.

Any candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in Saturday’s primary election for Big Island mayor or city council will be elected outright. In races where no candidate reaches the 50% mark, the two candidates with the most votes will advance to a runoff in the general election on Nov. 5.

The percentages in this story were calculated after removing blank votes and excess votes.

The relatively large field of candidates in this year’s mayoral election and the resistance of several public service unions made it difficult for Roth to win a majority in the primaries.

Roth served as Hawaii County’s elected prosecutor from 2012 to 2020 before successfully running for mayor in 2020. Alameda is the former director of aging issues for the Hawaii County Office of Aging and also the former CEO of Bay Clinic Health Center.

Both Roth and Alameda are Hilo residents and have campaigned politely, but the campaign was marred by tragedy last spring. Alameda’s wife, Star, 55, was found unconscious in the couple’s home and died May 3 after emergency personnel were unable to resuscitate her.

Alameda’s campaign was suspended for a while, but on June 8 he announced that he would resume his candidacy for mayor.

Hawaii’s public sector unions tend to support incumbents, but this year Alameda benefited from support from the State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers, the United Public Workers Union and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

These unions are pushing the state and counties to pay tens of millions of dollars in hazard pay for the work thousands of their members have done during the pandemic. But Hawaii County, under Roth’s leadership, has so far not agreed to those payments.

This is a sore point for the unions, because each of them has special clauses in their contracts that provide for danger allowances under certain circumstances. The unions have reached settlements or won arbitration decisions on the issue of danger allowances on other islands.

Roth called this year’s point-in-time count of homelessness in Hawaii County a major achievement of his administration, as it showed a 28% drop in the island’s homeless population over the past year.

He also points to improvements in the county’s historically inefficient process for issuing building permits, as well as the fact that more than 70 miles of roads have been paved since 2020. He also claims his administration has made significant progress in increasing the supply of affordable housing in the county.

Alameda counters that a county initiative to pump millions of dollars in additional funding into homeless programs – which many believe helped reduce the homeless population – actually came from the Hawaii County Council.

He also questioned whether the Roth government’s changes to the building permit process were really as successful as Roth claims.

On the controversial issue of the Thirty Meter Telescope, Roth has said the project should be built while Alameda and his family protested the TMT in 2019. But Alameda said things have changed in recent years and he may be open to the project if the community agrees, certain conditions are met and the project is “done with integrity.”

Most of the current Hawaii County Council members appeared to have comfortable leads in their races in early results. The only exception was West Hawaii County Councilwoman Cindy Evans, a longtime state representative who was trailing in the 9th District in early results.

James Hustace led the race for the council seat that covers Waimea, Waikoloa and Hawi with more than 43% of the vote. Evans had less than 39% in early election results, while Michael Konowicz had 17%.

Council President Heather Kimball appeared to be well on her way to direct re-election in the first election in District 1, which includes the Hamakua Coast, as she received nearly 54% of the vote, according to initial results.

Brittany Anderson had nearly 29%, while BJ Penn, the former mixed martial artist, had 17%.

Also in West Hawaii, Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas appeared on track for a primary victory in a five-way race in the 7th District, which includes Keauhou, Holualoa and part of Kailua. Villegas had more than 55% in early results, while her closest challenger, Zahz Hewlen, had 13%.

Also in the race are Joshua Montgomery with 10%, Wesley Moore with nearly 12% and Jennifer Wilkinson with 9%.

Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, who had previously served four two-year terms on the County Council, also appeared to be on course to win the election for the Hilo council seat in District 3, which includes Keaukaha, Panaewa and parts of Waiakea.

Onishi, who served on the council from 2008 to 2016, led in the first expression of the evening with nearly 53%, followed by Kelton Chang with nearly 22%. Kaloa Robinson had 19% in the first results, followed by Leomana Turalde with 6%.

Councilmember Michelle Galimba also appeared on track for straight-up re-election in her four-candidate race in the vast 6th District, which stretches from the Volcano area through Pahala, South Point and Hawaiian Ocean View Estates to Kealakekua.

Galimba led with 56%, while challenger Marie Burns had 5%, Kyle Jones had nearly 10% and Ikaika Kailiawa-Smith had nearly 29%.

Councilman Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder led in a tight race between five candidates in Upper Puna’s 5th District, which includes Keaau, Hawaiian Acres and Mountain View.

Kanealii-Kleinfelder had 45%, while his leading opponent, former county public works director Ikaika Rodenhurst, had nearly 26%. Also in the race were Aaron Tolentino with nearly 22%, Sysha-Marie Torres with 3% and Haylie Taylor with nearly 4%.

Councilwoman Ashley Kierkiewicz, who represents Lower Puna’s Fourth District, faced no opposition this year.