When it comes to local governance on the neighbor islands, the mayoral and county council races play a super-sized role in the elections.

The councils and mayors determine property tax rates, shape housing policies, maintain miles of roads, provide lifeguards, law enforcement and emergency responders, dictate land use and make a slew of other official decisions every week that affect the daily lives of virtually everyone in some form or another.

And, based on the results, voters shook things up at the polls Tuesday, looking to usher in new members to serve two-year terms on the Maui, Hawaii and Kauai county councils.

Kauai County Council votes to override veto_Bill 2491

Kauai County Council members listen as Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr., on the TV monitor, testified on the GMO bill, Nov. 17, 2013.

Sophie Cocke/Civil Beat

It was all about maintaining the status quo when it came to the mayoral races though.

The incumbents running for mayor on Kauai and Maui — Bernard Carvalho Jr. and Alan Arakawa, respectively — won re-election easily, according to preliminary election results. Big Island Mayor Billy Kenoi was not up for re-election this year.

Carvalho won 61 percent to 34 percent over first-time candidate Dustin Barca, a former pro surfer who is running primarily to challenge Carvalho over his opposition to the law the council passed last year adding significant restrictions to the genetically modified seed companies on the island.

Arakawa received 55 percent of the vote compared to 40 percent for Tam Paltin, a county ocean safety officer who campaigned on improving the quality of life on Maui and cutting the mayor’s executive staff.

When it comes to the council races, each county has a slightly different set of rules.

There’s no representation by district on the Garden Isle. The top seven of 14 candidates in the nonpartisan general election win seats to represent Kauai and Niihau.

In near-final returns, the top seven vote-getters for the Kauai County Council were:

  • *Mel Rapozo
  • *Ross Kagawa
  • Arryl Kaneshiro
  • KipuKai Kualii
  • *JoAnn Yukimura
  • *Mason Chock
  • *Gary Hooser

(Asterisks indicate incumbents)

Incumbents Jay Furfaro and Tim Bynum were among the losers.

Big Island voters elect their nine-member council by district. Council members Brenda Ford and J Yoshimoto were term limited and one freshman member, Zendo Kern, did not seek re-election.

Seven of the nine members were chosen in the Aug. 9 primary. Those newly elected members are incumbent Valerie Poindexter (District 1), Aaron Chung (District 2), incumbent Dennis “Fresh” Onishi (District 3), incumbent Greggor Ilagan (District 4), Maile David-Medeiros (District 6), incumbent Dru Kanuha (District 7) and incumbent Karen Eoff (District 8).

Here are the near-final results in the nonpartisan race to elect the remaining two members:

  • District 5: Daniel Paleka Jr. (50 percent), Tiffany Edwards Hunt (44 percent),
  • District 9: Incumbent Margaret Wille (57 percent), Ronald Gonzales (39 percent)

The nine-member Maui County Council has four district seats up for grabs this election. Here are the near-final results of that nonpartisan, at-large race:

  • East Maui: Bob Carroll (59 percent), Nick Nikhlananda (25 percent)
  • West Maui: Elle Cochran (48 percent), Ka’ala Buenconsejo (41 percent)
  • South Maui: Don Couch (54 percent), Mike Molina (36 percent)
  • Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu: Mike Victorino (55 percent), Joseph Blackburn (27 percent)
  • Kahului: Don Guzman (52 percent), Joe Pontanilla (34 percent)

Riki Hokama, Maui County Council candidate representing Lanai, was unopposed in the general election, as was Stacy Helm Crivello, representing Molokai.

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