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A new political action committee with ties to the carpenters union has spent more than $290,000 this month to influence the outcome of three races for the Maui County Council, seats that could shape the future of development on an island on the verge of a major rebuilding effort.

For A Better Tomorrow, the new super PAC created less than two months ago, has sent mailers to voters on Maui supporting the reelection of Tom Cook, Tasha Kama and Nohe U‘u-Hodgins, who are seen as part of the pro-development majority on the council.

Cook is facing former council member Kelly King on Nov. 5. Kama is running against Carol Lee Kamekona. U‘u-Hodgins’ opponent is Nara Boone.

A loss for any of the incumbents would tip the balance in favor of a political faction on the council that has generally opposed large development projects and advocated for a greater share of affordable housing units.

For A Better Tomorrow also has paid for advertising for supporting candidates on Kauai, Hawaii island and in two legislative races, filed with the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission.

Known as independent expenditure committees in Hawaii, super PACs like For A Better Tomorrow have no limits on the amount of donations they are allowed to receive from a single source and have no limitations on what they can spend supporting or opposing political candidates.

The only condition is that the super PAC cannot coordinate its advertising with candidates’ campaigns.

For A Better Tomorrow has financial backing from the Hawaii Carpenters Market Recovery Program Fund, which is affiliated with the Pacific Resource Partnership. The fund gets its money from contractors that employ workers represented by the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters. The fund set up For A Better Tomorrow with a .

Groups related to the carpenters union spent heavily in 2018 and 2022 to influence the races for governor and lieutenant governor. Two years ago, those groups also started wading into races for county councils.

“Like many other working families, our members are deeply concerned about the future of our islands,” Sean Newcamp, For A Better Tomorrow’s chairman, said in a written statement. “We want affordable housing, a living wage, retirement security, and a quality of life that ensures Hawaii remains a place where we, our keiki, and future generations can thrive.”

While there’s generally a consensus on things like Lahaina recovery efforts, the County Council tends to be more divided over how to approach new development projects.

The council is split between five members seen as more pro-development and four others, who run on a slate called the Ohana candidates and who tend to prioritize environmental protection, among other things.

The pro-development members on the council include Cook, Kama and U‘u-Hodgins as well as Yuki Lei Sugimura, who oversees the county’s finances and chairs the council’s budget committee, and council Chair Alice Lee.

The current Ohana candidates include Tamara Paltin, Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, Gabe Johnson and Shane Sinenci. Johnson and Sinenci are unopposed in the general election.

The Ohana group took control of the council in 2018 but fell out of power in 2022 when Kelly King and Mike Molina left to run for mayor. In those years, concerns over the county’s use of injection wells and other environmental issues clearly illustrated the divide among the council members.

Now, the divide is over building.

“The main, contentious issue is development versus slower growth,” Dick Mayer, a retired economics professor and longtime Maui political observer, said.

More building means more jobs for carpenters and other construction industry professionals.

Maintaining the status quo on the council could mean a smoother ride for developers in the future. If control goes back to the Ohana group, new developments are more likely to meet resistance and the council would be more likely to push developers for more affordable units, Mayer said.

For A Better Tomorrow paid more than $289,000 for advertising supporting Cook, Kama and U‘u-Hodgins. It separately spent more than $80,000 on ads supporting Kama and Hawaii County Council member Matt Kaneali‘i-Kleinfelder, according to a filed on Oct. 3.

On Maui, Kama has been the biggest beneficiary of spending from For A Better Tomorrow.

In 2022, she won the Kahului seat by just 9 percentage points over her opponent. It was one of the closest races that year.

Kama said she was happy for the support this election season.

“I was really appreciative that the super PAC was supportive of me,” Kama said. “Sometimes, you don’t know what they’re going to do from one day to the next.”

Many also see Cook as being vulnerable. He led former council member Kelly King by just 144 votes in the primary election. Cook also said he’s grateful for the support.

“I’m more of a carpenter than a politician,” he said.

Cook and Kama both said they feel developers and construction industry workers get a bad rap.

“People want us to build affordable homes for local people,” Cook said. “But the people actually capable of getting it done get criticized. I don’t get it.”

Most eyes have been on Cook’s South Maui seat. It’s also the district where a few large development projects are in the pipeline.

More than 6,400 units are slated for development in South Maui in the coming years, according to a community presentation by Mayer.

Residents angered by the lack of affordable units across those developments point to a project called Honuaula, formerly known as Wailea 670. Of the 1,150 units included in that development, 288 are planned to be affordable, in line with county codes that require 25% of new developments to be set aside for workforce housing.

On Maui, affordable housing is defined as housing units aimed at those earning less than 140% of area median income, which for a family of four comes out to about $168,000 annually.

The council could require developers to produce more affordable units. It also has the power to approve zoning changes or amendments to community plans that are necessary for projects to move forward.

The council also appoints members to county boards like the planning commission, which makes recommendations to the council and the mayor regarding proposed developments.

“Could they stop them from developing? I don’t know if they can,” Mike Moran, former president of the , said of the Ohana candidates. “But they can slow it down, make it more challenging.”

While most of the super PAC spending has been focused on pro-growth candidates, there is some outside support for the Ohana candidates.

Correction: The Maui Pono Network, another political action group, spent $1,000 on ads supporting the Ohana slate. The group this election cycle, which began in 2022.

A group of mostly Maui residents also pooled together $13,500 to mail out a “Save Maui Voting Guide” which in addition to supporting the Ohana slate also endorses Sen. Angus McKelvey and Reps. Terez Amato, Elle Cochran and Mahina Poepoe.

Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.

This story was supported with funding from the Data-Driven Reporting Project. The Data-Driven Reporting Project is funded by the Google News Initiative in partnership with Northwestern University | Medill.