OHA Election Results: Incumbents Returning To Office
Island trustees for Molokai, Lanai and Kauai are gaining reelection.
Editor’s note: These results have been updated as of 7:29 p.m. Wednesday.
Voters are favoring incumbents in this year’s race for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs Board of Trustees.
At-Large Trustee Kelii Akina had a commanding lead over former trustee Lei Ahu Isa. Early returns show Akina had 38.4% compared to Ahu Isa’s 24%.
Trustee Luana Alapa had a smaller lead over Kunani Nihipali in the race for the Molokai-Lanai trustee seat. Alapa had 32.3% to Nihipali’s 22.7%.
And on Kauai, Trustee Dan Ahuna led Laura Lindsey 30.6% to 23.8%.
One new trustee, Kai Kahele, won the Big Island seat outright in the primary election. He will replace outgoing Trustee Mililani Trask.
Although most of the nine-member board of trustees represent geographic areas, they run statewide. It means name recognition has become crucial in these matchups as the OHA races do not often attract big-dollar donors like those who fund statewide campaigns for governor.
This often gives incumbents an advantage.
Ahu Isa, a former state lawmaker, has reported raising no money for her campaign this election season. Meanwhile, Akina, whose campaign is often the most well-funded among OHA candidates, spent $82,000 during the election period that began in 2022.
In 2016, Akina ran on a platform of promoting transparency at OHA. His efforts along with those of other trustees led to a series of forensic audits that identified misspending and possible instances of waste, fraud and abuse in grants and contracting programs.
Now, Akina wants to get an accurate tally of ceded land revenues due to OHA from other state agencies. The office estimates that should be around $70 million a year although that number is still being determined by a working group that includes OHA and other state officials.
Ahu Isa promised to focus on funding for grant programs aimed at alleviating homelessness.
Alapa faced an early challenge to her residency on Molokai, but the state Office of Elections upheld her candidacy. Alapa has said that she wants to increase the visibility of OHA and create for Native Hawaiians.
Nihipali wants to see reparations from the U.S. for its role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893.
On Kauai, Ahuna while Lindsey has said that OHA should make a greater effort to register Native Hawaiians as a way to identify their needs.
OHA trustees manage an investment portfolio valued at nearly $600 million.
They will also oversee the development of lands OHA owns in Iwilei and in Kakaako, where the office is evaluating new strategies to pursue building after requests for zoning variances stalled at the Legislature in recent years.
OHA also wants to take over management of Mauna Ala from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Which agency will ultimately manage the burial place of many of Hawaii’s monarchs will likely spill into the next legislative session.
