Hawaii is the only state that holds its statewide primary election on a Saturday. This year, the primary is Aug. 11.
The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., but Hawaii also has a robust mail-in voting process. In 2014, the last time we voted for governor, 56 percent of voters dropped their ballots in the mail in the weeks before Election Day. Early voting has become such a factor that candidates time their campaigns to take advantage of it.
One U.S. Senate seat in Hawaii and both of our U.S. House seats will be on the Aug. 11 primary ballot.
All 51 House seats are up for election along with 13 of the 25 state Senate seats.
So are four of nine Honolulu City Council seats, and county council seats in Maui County, Kauai County and Hawaii County. Voters also will be electing new mayors for Maui and Kauai.
Five of the nine seats on the board of trustees for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs will also be on the ballot — three at-large seats, one representing Oahu and one for Maui.
Candidates who win their primaries and have no general election opponent are deemed to have won the office. In Hawaii, many statewide and legislative races are effectively decided in the primary because of the overwhelming dominance of the Democratic Party of Hawaii. So whichever Democrat wins the primary often goes on to prevail in the general election.
Hawaii allows candidates to run as independents if they choose not to join a political party. But nonpartisan candidates rarely progress past the primary election because state law requires them to get at least 10 percent of the total votes cast in the primary or as many votes as the winning partisan candidate who got the least number of votes.
County-level races as well as the contest for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs are nonpartisan. Candidates are not designated as Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Greens or any other affiliation. Some county races with only two candidates won’t appear on the primary ballot but will be on the Nov. 6 ballot.
Below is a list of the candidates who have filed their paperwork to run for office in the primary. The filing deadline for both the Aug. 11 primary and the Nov. 6 general election was June 5.
Some candidates have been active for months, including raising money from contributors. You can study campaign finance reports for each candidate at the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission website.
Voters don’t have much time to check on where candidates are getting their money, especially with the popularity of early voting in which people can begin turning in their ballots about a month before the election.
Civil Beat has been analyzing the campaign cash flowing to candidates, looking at candidates as well as contributors, including political action committees. You can find those stories in our ongoing report, Cashing In.
We also review campaign ads — on TV, the internet, radio — and provide insight into what the candidates are trying to achieve as well as pointing out any questionable factual assertions. That’s a series we call Ad Watch.
Check back frequently. We’ll also be including links to information on candidates and where they stand on important issues. We’ve sent out candidate questionnaires for congressional, statewide and legislative races, as well as for the county mayor and council races. We’ll link to those from this page as they come in.
For more information, visit the Hawaii Office of Elections website.
The Ballot (Unofficial)
D = Democrat, R = Republican, I = Independent, L = Libertarian, G = Green Party, C = Constitution, N = Nonpartisan, NS = Nonpartisan Special
* = incumbent
U.S. Senate
Mazie Hirono (D) *
Consuelo Anderson (R)
George Berish (R)
Ronald Curtis (R)
Rocky De La Fuente (R)
Robert Helsham Sr. (R)
Michael Hodgkiss (R)
Edward Pirkowski (R)
Thomas White (R)
Charles Haverty (N)
Matthew Maertens (N)
Arturo Reyes (N)
Ed Case (D)
Doug Chin (D)
Beth Fukumoto (D)
Kaniela Ing (D)
Donna Kim (D)
Ernie Martin (D)
Palasi Puletasi (D)
Cam Cavasso (R)
Emmanuel Tipon (R)
Raymond Vinole (R)
Michelle Tippens (L)
Zachary Burd (G)
John Cipolla (N)
Calvin Griffin (N)
Tony Austin (D)
Sherry Campagna (D)
Tulsi Gabbard (D) *
Brian Evans (R)
Governor
Ernest Caravalho (D)
Colleen Hanabusa (D)
David Ige (D) *
Wendell Ka’ehu’ae’a (D)
Richard Kim (D)
Van Tanabe (D)
John Carroll (R)
Ray L’Heureux (R)
Andria Tupola (R)
James Brewer (G)
Selina Blackwell (N)
Eric Link (N)
Terrence Teruya (N)
Lieutenant Governor
Bernard Carvalho Jr. (D)
Will Espero (D)
Josh Green (D)
Kim Coco Iwamoto (D)
Jill Tokuda (D)
Marissa Kerns (R)
Steven Lipscomb (R)
Jeremy Low (R)
Renee Ing (G)
Ernest Magaoay (N)
Paul Robotti (N)
State Senate
District 1
Kai Kahele (D) *
Kimberly Arianoff (L)
District 3
Brenda Ford (D)
Dru Kanuha (D)
Michael Last (L)
District 4
Lorraine Inouye (D) *
Heather Kimball (D)
District 6
Rosalyn Baker (D) *
Terez Lindsey (D)
Melissah Shishido (G)
District 7
J. Kalani English (D) *
Ann Haliniak-Lloyd (D)
Michael Tengan (D)
District 12
Brickwood Galuteria (D) *
Sharon Moriwaki (D)
Lynn Mariano (R)
District 16
Breene Harimoto (D) *
District 17
Clarence Nishihara (D) *
Roger Clemente (R)
District 18
Michelle Kadani (D) *
Anthony Solis (R)
Emil Svrcina (R)
District 19
Veronica Duzon (D)
District 21
Timothy Riley (D)
Maile Shimabukuro (D) *
Diamond Garcia (R)
District 23
Clayton Hee (D)
Gil Riviere (D) *
District 24
Kenneth Ito (D)
Jarrett Keohokalole (D)
State House
District 1
Mark Nakashima (D) *
Esther Paik-Mander (D)
District 2
Terri Napeahi (D)
Chris Todd (D) *
Brian Feste (R)
Jocelyn Manipol-Larson (R)
District 3
Richard Onishi (D) *
Raina Whiting (D)
Frederick Fogel (L)
District 4
Joy San Buenaventura (D) *
District 5
Richard Creagan (D) *
Jeanne Kapela (D)
Gene Leslie (D)
District 6
Nicole Lowen (D) *
District 7
Cindy Evans (D) *
David Tarnas (D)
Thomas Belekanich (R)
District 8
Troy Hashimoto (D) *
Justin Hughey (D)
Dain Kane (D)
Mary Wagner (D)
District 9
Kelson Batagnan (D)
Justin Woodson (D) *
Andrew Kayes (N)
District 10
Angus McKelvey (D) *
Chayne Marten (R)
Jennifer Mather (G)
District 11
Don Couch (D)
Ollie Myrick D)
Christine Wildberger (D)
Daniel Kanahele (N)
District 12
Tiare Lawrence (D)
Kyle Yamashita (D) *
District 13
Lynn DeCoite (D) *
John-Bull English (D)
Swami Nikhilananda (G)
District 14
Nadine Nakamura (D) *
District 15
Elaine Daligdig (D)
James Tokioka (D) *
District 16
Stephanie Iona (D)
Dee Morikawa (D) *
District 17
Gene Ward (R) *
Alan Yim (L)
District 18
Mark Hashem (D) *
Ronette Souza (R)
District 19
Bert Kobayashi (D) *
District 20
Calvin Say (D) *
Julia Allen (R)
Brendan Hand (R)
District 21
Scott Nishimoto (D) *
District 22
Tom Brower (D) *
Kathryn Henski (R)
District 23
Dylan Armstrong (D)
Elton Fukumoto (D)
Andrew Garrett (D)
Dale Kobayashi (D)
Benton Rodden (D)
District 24
Della Au Belatti (D) *
District 25
Sylvia Luke (D) *
District 26
Scott Saiki (D) *
District 27
Takashi Ohno (D) *
Mela Lindsey-Kealoha (R)
District 28
John Mizuno (D) *
District 29
Dan Holt (D) *
James Logue (D)
District 30
Romy Cachola (D) *
Ernesto Ganaden (D)
Marcelino Velasco (R)
District 31
Aaron Ling Johanson (D) *
District 32
Linda Ichiyama Chong (D) *
District 33
Tracy Arakaki (D)
Sam Kong (D) *
David Matsushita (D)
District 34
Gregg Takayama (D) *
District 35
Roy Takumi (D) *
District 36
Zuri Aki (D)
Dean Hazama (D)
Trish La Chica (D)
Marilyn Lee (D)
Valerie Okimoto (R)
District 37
Ryan Yamane (D) *
Mary Smart (R)
District 38
Henry Aquino (D) *
District 39
Ty Cullen (D) *
District 40
Rosebella Ellazar-Martinez (D)
Patrocinio Bolo (N)
Bob McDermott (R) *
District 41
Rida Cabanilla (D)
Lynn Robinson-Onderko (D)
Christopher Fidelibus (R)
District 42
Sharon Har (D) *
Jacob Schafer (D)
District 43
Stacelynn Eli (D)
Michael Juarez (D)
Sailau Timoteo (R)
Angela Kaaihue (N)
District 44
Cedric Gates (D) *
Jo Jordan (D)
District 45
Lauren Matsumoto (R) *
District 46
Lester Fung (D)
Lei Learmont (D) *
Amy Perruso (D)
John Miller (R)
District 47
Sean Quinlan (D) *
Richard Fale (R)
Boyd Ready (R)
District 48
Keith Bukoski (D)
Randy Gonce (D)
Lisa Kitagawa-Agaki (D)
Jessica Wooley (D)
District 49
Shannon Dalire (D)
Natalia Hussey-Burdick (D)
Scot Matayoshi (D)
Maurice Radke (D)
Adriel Lam (N)
District 50
Cynthia Thielen (R) *
Micah Pregitzer (D)
Miles Shiratori (D)
District 51
Chris Lee (D) *
Johnene Galea’i (R)
Coby Chock (N)
District 2
Robert Bunda
Lloyd Burlew
Choon James
Heidi Tsuneyoshi
District 4
Natalie Iwasa
Ricky Marumoto
Trevor Ozawa *
Tommy Waters
District 6
Tyler Dos Santos-Tam
Carol Fukunaga *
Ikaika Hussey
Zachary Stoddard
District 8
Brandon Elefante *
Kelly Kitashima
Hawaii County Council
District 1
Valerie Poindexter *
Abraham Sadegh
District 2
Aaron Chung *
William Halversen
District 3
Susan Lee Loy *
District 4
Ashley Kierkiewicz
Eileen O’Hara *
District 5
Matthew Kanealii-Kleinfelder
Jennifer Ruggles
Frederic Wirick
District 6
Richard Abbett
Maile David *
Yumi Kawano
District 7
Kelly Drysdale
Bronsten Kossow
Cynthia Nazara
Rebecca Villegas
District 8
Karen Eoff *
District 9
Herbert Richards III *
Margaret Parish
Maui Mayor
Elle Cochran
Don Guzman
Beau Hawkes
Alec Hawley
Orion Kopelman
Michael Victorino
Laurent Zahnd
Maui County Council
East Maui
Claire Carroll
Shane Sinenci
West Maui
Ernest Balinbin
Frederick Nava
Tamara Paltin
Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu
Alika Atay *
Alice Lee
Kahalui
Alan Arakawa
Debra Kaiwi
Natalie Kama
South Maui
Zandra Krause
Kelly King *
Makawao-Haiku-Paia
Adam Borowiec
Trinette Furtado
Michael Molina
Upcountry
Hannibal Starbuck
Yuki Sugimura *
Lanai
Riki Hokama *
Gabriel Johnson
Molokai
Cora Caparida-Schnackenberg
Stacy Crivello *
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez
Kauai Mayor
Ana-Lucia Des Marais
Derek Kawakami
Debra Kekaualua
Leonard Rapozo
Mel Rapozo
Clint Yago
JoAnn Yukimura
Kauai County Council
Dominic Acain
Heather Ahuna
Juno Ann Apalla
Arthur Brun *
Mason Chock
Felicia Cowden
Theodore Daligdig
Bill DeCosta
Norma Doctor Sparks
Luke Evslin
Victoria Franks
Richard Fukushima
Cecilia Hoffman
Shaylene Iseri
Ross Kagawa *
Arryl Kaneshiro *
Kipukai Kualii
Nelson Mukai
Wally Nishimura
Adam Roversi
Roy Saito
Shirley Simbre-Medeiros
Milo Spindt
Harold Vidinha
Maui
Jonah Kapu
Carmen Lindsey *
Oahu
Kaleihikina Akaka
Jackie Burke
Leona Kalima
Esther Kiaaina
Samuel Wilder King II
Paul Mossman
Kanani Murray
At-Large
Lei Ahu Isa *
William Aila Jr.
Rowena Akana *
Alvin Akina
Charles Kaui Jochanan Amsterdam
Faye Hanohano
Brendan Lee
Keali Makekau
Kalai Paaluhi
Landen Paikai
Makana Paris
Kali Puuoahu
Pohai Ryan
John Waihee IV *
The post Hawaii Elections 2018: Primary Ballot appeared first on Honolulu Civil Beat.