Maui Mayor Richard Bissen secured reelection on Tuesday, with results showing the incumbent beating council member Yuki Lei Sugimura in a high-profile race defined by the candidates’ opposing views on how to approach the county’s housing shortage and long-term ownership of local water infrastructure.

Bissen, 64, was leading with 54.8% of the vote, and Sugimura, 72, had 42.6%, according to final results released Wednesday.

Since the beginning of the campaign season, political observers have said the Maui mayoral race was likely to be one of the most consequential elections in the state. It is also the first mayoral election since the deadly 2023 wildfires, and therefore the first opportunity for residents to voice who they want to lead the county as it continues to navigate ongoing post-disaster recovery efforts.

While incumbents typically have a significant advantage over their opponents, political observers had said Sugimura’s bid posed a serious threat to Bissen’s campaign for reelection. A win by Sugimura would mark the second time in four years that Maui voters opted not to back a sitting mayor — Bissen, a former judge, ousted then-Mayor Mike Victorino in the 2022 election. 

Just before 7 p.m., hundreds of people were gathered in the courtyard at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center in Kahului for Bissen’s election results watch party. They sat around round tables covered in navy blue table cloths and topped with bags bearing Bissen’s campaign slogan: “Not pau yet.” Blue and white light shone down on dancers wearing white lei and flowing floral dresses as they performed a hula. A small band played Hawaiian music behind them.

The crowd at the MACC erupted into a loud “whooo” as the first results were announced a little after 8 p.m. Bissen stood smiling softly in the corner by the stage, accepting hugs from his campaign staff and family before jumping right into interviews with media outlets. Some members of his staff became emotional, smiling and kissing each others’ foreheads.

Despite some polls and comments by political analysts predicting favorable results for Sugimura in the August primary election, Bissen had come out ahead with 46% of the vote, compared to her 33%. P. Denise La Costa, who was critical of both candidates during her campaign, finished third with 11%.

Sugimura closed the gap between the primary and general, but was still trailing by 2,827 votes in early returns Tuesday.

Political action committees and other donors invested big money in Sugimura’s campaign. For A Better Tomorrow, the super PAC affiliated with the influential Hawaiʻi Regional Council of Carpenters, ramped up its support for Sugimura, spending nearly $1.8 million on radio and television ads, social media posts and mailers supporting her bid for mayor in the month before the election, according to electioneering reports filed with the Campaign Spending Commission. That is in addition to the approximately $565,000 that the group spent supporting her campaign prior to Sept. 26. 

HIVision 2020, which is associated with the Plumbers and Pipefitters PAC, reported about $19,000 in independent expenditures supporting Sugimura.

Bissen received some support from PACs in the weeks leading up the the election, including just under $40,000 from Hawaiʻi Workers Strong — a PAC tied to the Hawaii State AFL-CIO and the Hawaiʻi Government Employees Association — and $11,570 from Working Families First, which is run by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, according to recent electioneering reports.

As the night was coming to a close, Bissen told Civil Beat that he spent most of the day asking himself whether he and his team did enough to come out of the election on top.

“I’m an old trial attorney, a prosecutor, so, I know that the key to doing good in trials is the preparation,“ he said. “Then there’s the presentation part, and you evaluate everything you did at the end, and you ask, ‘Did I do all the things I was supposed to do?’ And that’s how I looked at this. Did we did we do everything we could in terms of sign waving, in terms of canvassing, in terms of messaging, in terms of social media?”

Watching the results roll in and then taking the stage to perform for supporters alongside family, friends and campaign staff felt amazing, he said.

“It feels like vindication or validation,” he said. “When you think about someone like a union who’s endorsing you or someone who’s going to stand on a public street with a t-shirt on that has your name on it, and their face is visible to every person driving by, they are making a statement. They’re saying, ‘I stand with this person,’ and that’s courageous to be able to do that. I recognize that, and I value it. … I don’t take any of it lightly, and I want it to deliver.”

At least some of Sugimura’s support was likely tied to her longstanding criticism of Bill 9, the legislation that lays out Bissen’s plan to create more long-term housing by phasing out thousands of short-term vacation rentals. She received notable contributions from individuals and organizations with financial interest in the local real estate and tourism industries, including Maui-based and out-of-state real estate companies, luxury property developers, the Hawaii Realtors PAC and a group funded by the vacation rental platform Airbnb. 

At Sugimura’s campaign headquarters in Kahului, a few dozen of her supporters were filling their plates with food from the buffet and sitting in white folding chairs around long rectangular tables with plastic purple table clothes. Each table was topped with small bouquets of pink and yellow roses and baby’s breath. The room was decorated with gold and purple balloons, paper lanterns and garland featuring photos of Sugimura. A playlist featuring various classic rock and folk songs played while a live musician tuned his guitar.

Despite the outcome, Sugimura was still smiling just after 10 p.m. “Well, the outcome is not what we wanted, but I definitely enjoyed this journey,” she said. “The amount of people who reached out to me and asked if I would help them, I’m not going to forget. I’m still going to try to help as much as I can.”

Going forward, she said she plans to take some time to assess what she learned throughout the campaign and figure out her next steps. Even though she will not be mayor, she said she is still committed to the campaign promises she made and intends to work for the community in some other way.

“I’m glad I called the mayor to let him know, congratulations and good fight and I’m watching,” she said. “Every day I’m watching with all I’ve learned, I want to make sure he does everything that he has said he is going to do, and do it well.”

Bissen said he was still prioritizing his mayoral duties, but he was looking forward to taking a few days to spend time with family later this week and visiting Tacoma, Washington, to watch his grandnephew play for his college football team.

County Council Election Results

In Upcountry and Central Maui, where Sugimura’s mayoral bid and Council Chair Alice Lee’s retirement left open seats, well-known Native Hawaiian kalo farmer Bobby Pahia and longtime airports manager Marvin Moniz pulled way ahead of their opponents, business owner Jon Yokouchi and former planning commissioner Ashley Awakea Lindsey.

Pahia has 60.4% of the vote, results show, and Yokouchi had 25.2%. Moniz had 51.4% over Lindsey’s 32%.

In South Maui, Councilman Tom Cook was trailing Kelly King, 47.1% to 41.6%, according to final results Wednesday. He narrowly defeated the former councilwoman in 2024.

In the race to represent East Maui, Councilman Shane Sinenci beat Claire Kamalu Carroll, 49.8% to 32.4%. And in the West Maui race, Councilwoman Tamara Paltin won against Mark Tillman, 60.4% to 24.5%.

The incumbent was also on track to win the Makawao-Haʻikū-Pāʻia seat, with Councilwoman Nohe U‘u-Hodgins topping Stevie Kathryn Chung, 52.5% to 29.9%. Gabe Johnson of Lānaʻi and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez of Molokaʻi ran unopposed.

In Kahului, council member Kauanoe Batangan, who was appointed to the seat after the death of former council member Tasha Kama, was leading with 44.3% of the vote against Carol Lee Kamekona, who lost to Kama by 9 percentage points in 2024. Kamekona had 40.3%, according to the final round of results released Wednesday.