Finalists named to fill Tsuji’s seat

HILO — Hawaii County Democrats met Saturday to select final candidates to fill the late Clift Tsuji’s seat in the state House of Representatives.

Three candidates — Moana Kelii, Stacy Higa and Christopher Todd — were chosen by party members during a Saturday morning voting session at Keaukaha Elementary School.

The names will be submitted to Gov. David Ige, who will appoint one of the three to Tsuji’s District 2 seat. The same process took place in January after the death of state Sen. Gil Kahele.

State law requires Ige to fill the seat within 60 days of Tsuji’s passing. The appointee will serve a full two-year term.

“We expedited this, trying to get this going as quickly as we can,” said Phil Barnes, Hawaii County Democratic Party chairman. “Whoever ends up holding the seat has to be prepared before the (legislative) session starts. … The sooner the governor is able to make a decision, the more time the candidate has to prepare.”

The legislative session begins Jan. 18.

Seven candidates submitted their names for the position, but only five appeared Saturday. Former County Council members Dennis “Fresh” Onishi and J Yoshimoto did not attend.

Yoshimoto had been in touch earlier that morning to say he was withdrawing his name, but nobody heard from Onishi beforehand, said Democratic Party District 2 chairman Micah Alameda. The other two candidates that appeared were Laura Acasio and Jonathan Wong.

“It’s a bummer,” Alameda said. “Everyone came out here on a Saturday to vet the candidates … it’s disappointing.”

Each candidate gave an introductory speech before moving on to a round of short interviews with precinct officers. After the interviews, runoff ballot voting determined the candidates whose names will be sent to the governor.

Kelii easily secured the first round of voting, notching 12 of the 13 votes. Higa won the next round with seven votes.

Todd eked out the third spot over Wong, 6-5. Wong previously campaigned against Tsuji in the Democratic primary earlier this year.

Kelii and Wong are both precinct officers, so they participated as selectors and candidates. Candidates are able to vote for themselves.

Kelii, a 28-year member of the Democratic Party, most recently ran for a Hawaii County Council seat, which she lost to Sue Lee Loy.

She said her nine months campaigning for council had given her a good sense for what the district’s needs and concerns were, and that her job as a union agent for the Hawaii Government Employees Association give her an “institutional knowledge of state government.”

Higa said in his introductory speech that his analytic style of management would help him serve the community, and that he intended to honor Tsuji’s legacy if selected.

“His priorities will become my priorities,” he said.

Higa served on the County Council for two terms and unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2008. The same year, a former county aide filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual harassment. The case was later settled and Higa sued the county on the grounds that it did not provide appropriate defense. The suit is being appealed.

Todd said in his remarks that he decided to seek the nomination in order to do more for the Hilo community, where he was born and raised. He is a distribution manager at Hawaii Paper Product, a youth sports coach at Kalanianaole Elementary and a Hilo High football and track coach.

He said his priorities if selected would be “ensuring that our schools are adequately funded and (providing) educators with the foundation and the resources they need to succeed.”

“It is my hope that future generations can look and understand that we did everything possible to ensure their success,” Todd said.

Kelii said afterward that the morning was a good example of the democratic process.

“It’s an amazing process; everything was so transparent,” she said.

Public turnout was lower than at the January voting session to fill Kahele’s seat.

“The process we ran is pretty much the same, so I’d have to assume it’s the weather,” Alameda said.

Tom Callis contributed to this report.

Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaiitribune-herald.com.