Many veteran observers of local politics thought the Primary Election mayoral race would spawn a runoff in the General Election on Nov. 5 between incumbent Mitch Roth and challenger Kimo Alameda — and that’s what happened.
Voting results Saturday night in the nonpartisan race have Roth in the lead with 16,907 votes, or 38.99%, and Alameda as runner-up with 12,079 votes, or 27.86%.
Those totals include mail-in ballots. In the 2022 primaries, 97.25% of all votes statewide were cast by mail.
Roth told the Tribune-Herald it was reasonable to expect a runoff in the general “given the number of candidates in this race,” and said he feels good about his accomplishments in his four years in office.
“When we came in, the question was, were we going to be able to keep the County of Hawaii afloat,” he said. “We have our best bond rating ever. You look at the roads, we’ve doubled the amount of roads that we’ve paved.”
According to Roth, his administration also made strides in providing affordable housing.
“We went from 1,243 in the pipeline to about 8,100 right now,” he said. “These things take time, but they’re moving in the right direction.”
Breeani Kobayshi, like Alameda a first-time candidate, had received 8,677 votes, 20.1%, and Seaula “Jr.” Tupa‘i, a minister who was the lieutenant governor candidate on the 2022 ticket with Duke Aiona, garnered 4,680 votes, 10.79%.
Roth said he “has faith” and believes that in the General Election, “the values of Kobayashi’s and Tupa‘i’s voters will line up more with our values than those of our opposition.”
In the most recent campaign fundraising reports, Roth had raised $310,105.99, spent $192,989.43 and has $117,116.56 in his war chest going forward.
Late contributors to his campaign include the International Longshore and Warehouse Union No. 142, which also endorsed Roth’s reelection bid, with the maximum $4,000; Bob Acree, a Hawaii Island developer, with $3,000; and Susan Kurisu, wife of real estate investor Duane Kurisu.
Roth reported spending just over $60,000 since July 1.
Alameda, former CEO of Bay Clinic and former Fentanyl Task Force leader who was executive of the county’s Office of Aging under former mayors Harry Kim and the late Billy Kenoi, reported raising $143,902.32 and spending $123,294.49 as of the last report.
He listed $20,607.83 remaining in his coffers. Alameda’s late contributors include Waikoloa Development Co. Inc., who gave $2,000 to his campaign, and banker Michelle Victorine of Bank of America with $1,500.
Alameda reported spending a little over $16,500 since July 1.
The Tribune-Herald reached out to Alameda, who didn’t return a call in time for this story.
Kobayashi, 33, general manager of SCP Hilo Hotel and co-owner of Keaukaha General Store, reported raising $86,160 and spending $73,231.92.
According to her latest report to the Campaign Spending Commission, $55,000 of that is in loans — $30,000 of it the form of two loans to herself, one of $20,000, the other of $10,000, all reported as forgiven. She had previously loaned herself $20,000 and received a $5,000 loan from her mother, Kim Kimi, her partner in the Keaukaha store — also all reported as forgiven.
Kobayashi reported raising $7,545 in campaign contributions since July 1. That includes a maximum contribution of $4,000 from John Uohara, a local gynecologist and obstetrician.
The bottom three candidates, Yumi Kawano, Daniel Cunningham and Kevin Kahikina, each received less than 1% of the vote.
County Prosecutor Kelden Waltjen was elected to a second term Saturday. He was up for reelection but faced no primary opposition in the nonpartisan vote.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.