Maui County mayoral primary narrows 10-candidate field to 2 on Saturday

WAILUKU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Maui County voters will narrow a 10-candidate mayoral field to two this Saturday.

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The three candidates who have raised the most campaign funds are incumbent Mayor Richard Bissen, Maui County Councilwoman Yuki Lei Sugimura and real estate broker P. Denise La Costa.

Bissen praises recovery record

Bissen, a former prosecutor and judge, became mayor months before the 2023 Maui wildfires.

He said the disaster taught him important lessons and he believes he is the most qualified to lead residents through ongoing recovery efforts and won’t be starting from scratch.

“We’ve built the teams. We’ve had strong relationship with the federal government, the state government, as well as the other counties,” Bissen said. “I think we’ve shown that over and over again. We’ve built partnerships, we’ve created a great team, and we continue to be on the upswing in terms of our recovery and taking care of our people, which is number one.”

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Following the fires, Bissen signed Bill 9 into law — his controversial plan to phase out thousands of vacation rentals in an effort to free up long-term housing.

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Sugimura, the current Council Budget Chair, said Bill 9 was a huge mistake.

“The number of lives that has been damaged through this bill and how divisive it is, very sad, and I really say it killed aloha,” Sugimura said. “I told myself, I need to be mayor. I want to be mayor because we need to treat our people with more dignity and humanity.”

Sugimura has received major endorsements.

She said she would address Maui’s affordable housing crisis through more public-private partnerships.

La Costa said the same bill prompted her to enter the race.

“I will repeal Bill 9 immediately. That was an economic disaster that was done for political expediency,” La Costa said. “The property taxes that are from the properties on the mandatory list will be used to fund my Homes Together program. So that provides up to $80,000 down payment assistance in a grant, not a loan.”

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The top two finishers will advance to the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Ballots are due no later than 7 p.m.