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With a month to go until the Nov. 6 general election, we took the political temperature of the state with another round of public opinion surveys.

The Civil Beat Poll that we published this week found Democrats doing well as campaign season winds up — Mazie Hirono, Colleen Hanabusa and Tulsi Gabbard all look to be on track to win their races. Ben Cayetano also polled higher than Kirk Caldwell in the Honolulu mayor’s race — for now.

While who’s ahead of who is always the question that dominates the talk shows and headlines, these polls also looked at serious issues facing the citizens of Hawaii. In case you missed it, here are some other takeaways from the surveys:

• Most people think public education in Hawaii is not so good.
• The Honolulu rail project is still largely unpopular and getting more so.
• The controversy over Native Hawaiian burials isn’t swaying public opinion on rail.
• People in Hawaii care more about Medicare and Social Security than they do about military spending even though the defense budget helps keeps this economy afloat.

All things to think about as the election season comes to a close and the legislative/congressional season ramps up again in January. We’ll be looking more closely at these and other public concerns in the weeks to come.

Meanwhile, here are 10 more stories you won’t want to have missed:

• To Paddle Or Not? Canoe Race Sparks Controversy
• It’s Your Money: Hawaii Schools Paying Double for Hot Dogs
• Hawaii Regulators Crack Down On Solar ‘Queue Squatters’
• Emails Back Up Concerns Of Inouye Interference In Maui Telescope Case
• ‘Sucky Websites’ To Become Cool Under State’s New Tech Reform Plan
• Hawaii Senators Push For Unredacted Fact-Finder’s Report From University
• Senate Hearings on UH: What Did We Learn?
• Honolulu Mayoral Debate: Caldwell Takes Some Swings
• $1.5 Billion Budget for Cayetano’s Honolulu Traffic Proposal
• The Murky Waters of Campaign Finance in Honolulu Mayor’s Race