Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami easily advanced to the general election in November. His counterpart on Maui advanced, too, but looks like he’ll be in for a serious fight to stay in office.

What You Need To Know

  • Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami received 11,924 votes, roughly 80% of the total, and will face Michael Roven Poai in the general election

  • On Maui, retired state judge Rick Bissen narrowly edged incumbent Mayor Mike Victorino to set up an intriguing November contest

  • Four Maui County Council seats are up for election this year

  • In Saturday’s Hawaii County Council elections, all six incumbents surpassed the 50%-plus-1 mark needed to avoid a November runoff

Kawakami received 11,924 votes, roughly 80% of the total. Michael Roven Poai, who received just 1,795, fared the best of the other three candidates and will face Kawakami in the general election.

Kauai voters also selected 14 candidates to vie for seven Kauai County Council seats in November.

The top eight—Bernard Carvalho, Luke Evslin, Mel Rapozo, KipuKai Kualii, Ross Kagawa, Addison Bulosan, Billy DeCosta and Felicia Cowden—were separated by just over three percentage points. Joining them in the general election will be Fern Anuenue Holland, Shirley Simbre-Medeiros, Lila Balmores Metzger, Rachel Secretario, Nelson Mukai and Roy Saito.

On Maui, retired state judge Rick Bissen narrowly edged incumbent Mayor Mike Victorino to set up an intriguing November contest. The two accounted for just under 70% of the total votes cast in the race, which also included Maui County Council members Kelly Takaya King and Mike Molina.

Four Maui County Council seats are up for election this year.

Tasha Kama edged Buddy Nobriga by 188 votes on Saturday. The two will face off for the Council’s Kahului seat on Nov. 8. Tom Cook and Robin Knox will compete for King’s vacated South Maui seat. Molina’s Makawao-Haiku-Paia seat will go to either Nohe Uu-Hodgins or Dave DeLeon. In Upcountry, incumbent Yuki Lei Sugimura will face Jorden Hocker, who has much ground to make up after losing to Sugimura 15,859 votes to 4,653 votes on Saturday.

Four seats are in play for the Honolulu City Council. The top two candidates in each race advance to the general election.

The contest to replace departing Council member Brandon Elefante in District 8 was a virtual tie after the second readout on Saturday, with just seven votes separating the top two candidates, former state legislator and City Council member Ron Menor and Val Okimoto, who resigned her state House seat to run for the Council.

Matt Weyer and Makuakai Rothman will face each other in the general election for gubernatorial candidate Heidi Tsuneyoshi’s vacated seat. Among those who fell short in the primary race was Tsuneyoshi’s ex-husband, Chad Tsuneyoshi.

The District 6 seat formerly occupied by Carol Fukunaga, who is running for state Senate after reaching her two-term limit with the Council, could be Tyler Dos Santos-Tam’s to lose after he outpaced a crowded field on Saturday with more than a third of the vote. He will face Traci Toguchi in November.

The only two candidates for District 4, incumbent chair Tommy Waters and Kaleo Nakoa, automatically advanced to the general.

Incumbency ruled in Saturday’s Hawaii County Council elections, with all six incumbents surpassing the 50%-plus-1 mark needed to avoid a November runoff. The incumbent winners included Heather Kimball (District 1), Susan Lee Loy (District 3), Ashley Kierkiewicz (District 4), Matt Kanealii-Kleinfelder (District 5), Rebecca Villegas (District 7), and Goro Inaba (District 8).

Also avoiding a run-off was Cindy Evans in District 9.

In District 2, leaders Jennifer Kagiwada and Matthias Kusch were separated by a mere 16 points as they separated themselves from three others. In District 6, Michelle Galimba finished far ahead of her general election opponent Colehour Bondera.