Maui County Council Incumbents Are Cruising On To The General Election
UPDATED: Voters cast ballots in the primary for who they want to represent Upcountry and South Maui.
Former three-term Maui County Council member Kelly King trailed incumbent Tom Cook in her effort to reclaim the South Maui seat in Saturday’s primary election.
Political newcomer Johnny Prones was a distant third in the nonpartisan race to represent the district that includes Kihei, Wailea and Maalaea. King and Cook will advance to the Nov. 5 general election.
Cook had 40.5% of the vote, King had 40% and Prones had 5.5%, according to the last round of .
All nine council seats are up for election this year, but the primary only includes the races for South Maui and Upcountry because two of the seats are unopposed and the other five each only have two candidates so they automatically advance to the general.
In the Upcountry race, council member Yuki Lei Sugimura was out way ahead of Jocelyn Cruz and Ed Codelia. Sugimura had 57.8% of the vote, followed by Cruz with 18.1% and Codelia with 7.8%.
This election is of critical importance to the balance of power on the council, which sets the county’s spending priorities and has major policy-making authority. If the other incumbents hold onto their seats this fall, the winner of the South Maui race could tip the council back to a more progressive majority if King returns or keep it leaning more conservative if Cook wins.
While Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai, is broken into geographic districts, every county voter can vote in every council race.
Among the biggest issues on the horizon for the council to decide is figuring out what to do with Mayor Richard Bissen’s proposal to convert some 7,000 short-term vacation rentals into long-term housing by 2026.
Maui faced a massive housing crisis before the fires last August displaced about 13,000 people. While several significant housing projects are in the works on island, the mayor says he took the “bold step” to phase out several thousand vacation rentals in apartment districts as a way to help address the lack of housing.
The Maui Planning Commission unanimously recommended the council pass the divisive measure, with a few relatively minor changes, after hearing hours of testimony from hundreds or people.
Some fear phasing out about half the island’s stock of vacation rentals could wreck its tourism-dependent economy. Others say such action is long overdue if the county is serious about bringing down housing costs to both help families afford to stay and make room for much needed workers to come.
Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
