Need to figure out who to vote for on Nov. 6? Click on the links in this story to see how candidates in your area feel about certain issues.
Hawaii’s general election is Nov. 6 this year.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., but Hawaii also has a robust early voting process. In the Aug. 11 primary, 24 percent of registered voters dropped their ballots in the mail in the weeks before election day or walked in to polling places around the state. Of 286,180 people who voted, only 107,098 cast their ballots on primary election day.
One U.S. Senate seat in Hawaii and both of our U.S. House seats will be on the general election ballot.
There is also a race for governor and lieutenant governor.
Nineteen of the 51 House seats are up for election along with eight of the 25 state Senate seats.
So are two of nine Honolulu City Council seats, and a number of county council seats in Maui County, Kauai County and Hawaii County. Voters also will be electing new mayors for Maui and Kauai.
Five of the nine seats on the Board of Trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs will also be on the ballot — three at-large seats, one representing Oahu and one for Maui.
There is also a ballot question asking voters statewide whether they wish for Hawaii to convene a constitutional convention.
A proposed constitutional amendment to allow taxing investment properties to help pay for public education was ruled invalid by the Hawaii Supreme Court but will still appear on the ballot because it was too late to print new ones without it.
And all four counties have various charter questions specific to those counties.
Candidates who won their primaries and have no general election opponent are deemed to have won the office outright and their names won’t appear on the ballot. So they are not listed here.
In Hawaii, many statewide and legislative races are effectively decided in the primary because of the overwhelming dominance of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. So whichever Democrat wins the primary often goes on to prevail in the general election.
Hawaii allows candidates to run as independents if they choose not to join a political party. But nonpartisan candidates rarely progress past the primary election because state law requires them to get at least 10 percent of the total votes cast in the primary or as many votes as the winning partisan candidate who got the least number of votes.
County-level races as well as the contests for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are nonpartisan. Candidates are not designated as Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens or any other affiliation.
Civil Beat has been analyzing the campaign cash flowing to candidates, looking at candidates as well as contributors, including political action committees. You can find those stories in our ongoing report, Cashing In.
We also review campaign ads — on TV, the internet, radio — and provide insight into what the candidates are trying to achieve as well as pointing out any questionable factual assertions. That’s a series we call Ad Watch.
Below you’ll find links to information on candidates and where they stand on important issues. Many candidates have already responded to our candidate questionnaires for congressional, statewide and legislative races, as well as for the county mayor and council races. We’ve asked those who didn’t respond before the primary to do so now and we’ll include them as they come in so check back frequently.
For more information, visit the Hawaii Office of Elections website.
D = Democrat, R = Republican, L = Libertarian, G = Green Party, C = Constitution, N = Nonpartisan
* = incumbent
U.S. Senate
Mazie Hirono (D) *
Ronald Curtis (R)
Ed Case (D)
Cam Cavasso (R)
Michelle Tippens (L)
Zachary Burd (G)
Calvin Griffin (N)
Tulsi Gabbard (D) *
Brian Evans (R)
Governor
David Ige (D) *
Andria Tupola (R)
Jim Brewer (G)
Terrence Teruya (N)
Lieutenant Governor
Josh Green (D)
Marissa Kerns (R)
Renee Ing (G)
Paul Robotti (N)
State Senate
District 1
Kai Kahele (D) *
Kimberly Arianoff (L)
District 3
Dru Kanuha (D)
Michael Last (L)
District 6
Rosalyn Baker (D) *
District 12
Sharon Moriwaki (D)
Lynn Mariano (R)
District 17
Clarence Nishihara (D) *
Roger Clemente (R)
District 18
Michelle Kidani (D) *
Anthony Solis (R)
District 19
Matt LoPresti (D)
Kurt Fevella (R)
District 21
Maile Shimabukuro (D) *
Diamond Garcia (R)
State House
District 2
Chris Todd (D) *
Grace Manipol-Larson (R)
District 3
Richard Onishi (D) *
Frederick Fogel (L)
District 7
David Tarnas (D)
Thomas Belekanich (R)
District 10
Angus McKelvey (D) *
Chayne Marten (R)
Jennifer Mather (G)
District 13
Lynn DeCoite (D) *
District 17
Gene Ward (R) *
Alan Yim (L)
District 18
Mark Hashem (D) *
Ola Souza (R)
District 20
Calvin Say (D) *
Julia Allen (R)
District 22
Tom Brower (D) *
Kathryn Henski (R)
District 27
Takashi Ohno (D) *
Mela Kealoha-Lindsey (R)
District 30
Romy Cachola (D) *
Mar Velasco (R)
District 36
Marilyn Lee (D)
Val Okimoto (R)
District 37
Ryan Yamane (D) *
Mary Smart (R)
District 40
Rosebella Ellazar-Martinez (D)
Bob McDermott (R) *
District 41
Rida Cabanilla (D)
Christopher Fidelibus (R)
District 46
Amy Perruso (D)
John Miller (R)
District 47
Sean Quinlan (D) *
Richard Fale (R)
District 50
Cynthia Thielen (R) *
Micah Pregitzer (D)
District 51
Chris Lee (D) *
Johnene Galea’i (R)
District 4
District 8
Hawaii County Council
District 7
Maui Mayor
Michael Victorino
Maui County Council
East Maui
West Maui
Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu
Alika Atay *
Kahului
South Maui
Zandra Crouse
Makawao-Haiku-Paia
Upcountry
Lanai
Molokai
Kauai Mayor
Kauai County Council
Heather Ahuna
Bill DeCosta
Ross Kagawa *
Arryl Kaneshiro *
Maui
Carmen Lindsey *
Oahu
At-Large
Faye Hanohano
Statewide Measures
Voters will be asked to amend the state constitution:
City and County of Honolulu Charter Questions
Voters will be asked these questions: Shall the Revised Charter of the City and County of Honolulu 1973 (2017 Edition) relating to the board of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (the “Board”) be amended:
Kauai County Charter Questions
Voters will be asked these questions:
Maui County Charter Questions
Voters will be asked these questions:
Hawaii County Charter Questions
Voters will be asked two questions:
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