Three incumbent trustees of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs gained enough votes to advance to the general election.

If the results hold, incumbents Brickwood Galuteria, Keoni Souza and John Waiheʻe IV will face off against Ikaika Anderson, Adrian Kealii Akina and Kanekoa Crabbe to try and keep their seats on the OHA board. Three at-large seats are up for grabs in this year’s race.

The top six vote-getters for the three at-large seats will advance because none of the candidates got 50% or more of the votes needed to win a seat outright. Galuteria led with 15.1% of the vote followed by Waiheʻe (14.3%), Anderson (11.9%), Souza (11.7%), Akina (8.9%) and Crabbe (6.1%).

Two other races, for OHA seats representing Oʻahu and Maui, will also be contested in the General Election. Trustee Kalei Akaka and challenger Hinaleimoana Wong Kalu, of Oʻahu, and Trustee Carmen Hulu Lindsey and challenger Keʻeaumoku Kapu, of Maui, automatically advanced because there were only two candidates in each race.

The outcome of those races will determine the makeup of the board for the next two years and comes at a crucial time for OHA, as it is on the cusp of developing 30 acres of land in Kakaʻako and in the middle of negotiating what could be tens of millions more dollars in land payments from state agencies due to the office.

Resources from those developments will be put toward fulfilling OHA’s mission of improving the condition of Native Hawaiians. Created in 1978, OHA, overseen by its Board of Trustees, controls more than $600 million in financial and land assets intended to benefit Native Hawaiians.

Galuteria is a former state senator who lost election in 2018 before winning a seat on the OHA board in 2022. Waiheʻe is one of the board’s longest-serving members and is the son of former Gov. John Waiheʻe. Souza is the board’s vice chair and was also elected in 2022. Anderson is a former Honolulu city council member and candidate for lieutenant governor. Akina has more than 30 years as an educator, according to his campaign website. Crabbe has worked many jobs including as an adjunct professor, laborer, electrician, farmer and fisherman, according to his website.

The board has found itself in conflict in recent months over a lawsuit from CEO Stacy Ferreira.

A faction of four trustees, including Akaka and Lindsey, broke with the board earlier this year and supported claims Ferreira made in her lawsuit alleging that the trustees retaliated against her.

The majority faction, led by Kai Kahele, includes Trustee Dan Ahuna, Galuteria, Waiheʻe and Souza. The last three form the core of the board’s leadership and are chairs of various committees that oversee the office’s approach to advocacy, financial management and land.

The 5-4 split means just one loss from an incumbent could dramatically shift the balance of power on the board. Such was the case in 2024, when Kahele, a former member of Congress, won the empty Big Island seat and replaced Lindsey as chair in his first meeting.

All registered voters can vote in OHA races because of a 2001 U.S. Supreme Court decision that ended the practice of only allowing Hawaiians to vote for OHA.