Incumbents and front-runners lead Maui, Kauaʻi county mayoral primaries

News admin August 9, 2026 0 Comments

Incumbents and front-runners lead Maui, Kauaʻi county mayoral primaries

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The state Office of Elections released its second print of primary election results, showing solid advantages for front-runners in both the Maui and Kauaʻi county mayoral races.

The top two vote-getters in these nonpartisan county races are officially set to advance to the general election in November.

Bissen and Sugimura to face off on Maui

Incumbent Maui County Mayor Richard T. Bissen, Jr. maintained a strong lead on Saturday night. He and challenger Yuki Lei Kashiwa Sugimura will advance to the November ballot.

Rather than focus on his campaign Saturday, Bissen spent the day in Lahaina, observing the three-year anniversary of devastating wildfires.

“Just being in community, being with pastors, we were able to visit the crosses last night… and then today was just all day in Lahaina until right now,” Bissen said. “We’re really grateful for all of our supporters, all of those folks that have been out on the streets, sign waving, canvassing, putting up banners and signs throughout the county. Just super grateful. And we just want to keep this going.”

Sugimura expressed gratitude for her supporters and noted she was prepared for a challenging race.

“I’m grateful, right. And I knew it was going to be a tough race and I am up for it,” Sugimura said. “We’re running against an incumbent. And so just seeing the election results, I’m not surprised because I am running against who I am running. And that’s fine. But we just work harder. We just do more.”

Mayor, County of Maui

Rapozo leads Kauaʻi mayoral ballot count

In the primary race for Kauaʻi mayor, Mel Rapozo held onto his front-runner status, leading former mayor Bernard Carvalho, Jr. in the second printout of ballots.

Rapozo and Carvalho will advance to the general election ballot.

Both candidates are prominent, familiar figures in Kauaʻi politics. Rapozo currently serves as the County Council chair and has spent more than two decades in local government. Carvalho also currently sits on the County Council and previously served 10 years as the island’s mayor across two full terms and a partial term.

Speaking on Saturday night, both candidates expressed a deep, long-standing mutual respect as they prepare for a highly competitive campaign leading up to November.

“Mel and I, we’re brothers, you know, for a long time, and we’ve done a lot of good things on council,” Carvalho said from his campaign headquarters at the Kauaʻi Convention Hall. “There’s a lot of respect there… first, our families, and then, of course, between us and just our style of leadership. He has his style. I have my style, which is good, but there’s a respect there that is important as we continue to move forward.”

Carvalho stated that he is ready to reapply his extensive mayoral experience to the current, pressing issues facing the island.

Rapozo mirrored the sentiment, praising his opponent’s character while promising to campaign aggressively for the general election.

“I’m taking nothing for granted,” Rapozo said. “Mr. Carvalho is a great guy. He’s an amazing human being. I love him like a brother. But again, you know, this is a race for the mayor’s seat. So we’re going to work hard. I promise you we’re going to work very hard.”