By Yiming Fu, a Report for America corps member
All Maui’s county councilmembers held onto their seats in the 2024 election, keeping the council’s 5-4 pro-developer majority. The council will confirm cabinet members, allocate the budget and pass bills related to Lahaina’s rebuild, with affordable housing policies on the line. This is the first election since the Lahaina fires.
The council has a majority of five members who are seen as more pro-developer, including Alice Lee, Tasha Kama, Tom Cook, Nohe U’u-Hodgins and Yuki Lei Sugimura. They are backed by a construction-industry Super PAC called For A Better Tomorrow. Many candidates hope to dispel that reputation, saying development means building housing for everyone.
Four members are seen as serving people’s interests and pro-affordable housing, including Tamara Paltin, Gabe Johnson, Shane Sinenci and Keani Rawlins-Fernandez. They were on a list of “Ohana Candidates,” supported by local grassroots political action group Maui Pono Network.
The hotly-contested South Maui race nearly tipped the scales, but Cook pulled ahead with 41.6%, of the vote to King’s 41.4%, with 117 votes between them. King ran for mayor in 2022 and served on the council three times. King ran against Cook in the 2020 race, winning 47.7% of the vote to Cook’s 35.6%/.
Here are the results from the County of Maui:
West Maui
Tamara Paltin, 54.1%, 34,236 votes
Lorien Acquintas, 32.1%, 14,616 votes
Wailuku-Waihee-Waikapu
Alice Lee, 44.5%, 28,125 votes
James Forrest, 35.2%, 22,235 votes
Kahului
Tasha Kama, 43.8%, 27,379 votes
Carol Lee Kamekona, 34.8%, 22,037 votes
South Maui
Tom Cook, 41.6%, 26,315 votes
Kelly King, 41.4%, 26,198
Makawao-Haiku-Paia
Nohe U’u-Hodgins, 43.7%, 27,616 votes
Nara Boone, 34.2%, 21, 664 votes
Upcountry
Yuki Lei Sugimura, 50%, 31,638 votes
Jocelyn Cruz, 28.9%, 18, 298 votes
East Maui
Shane Sinenci, 35.8%, 40,627 votes
Lanai
Gabe Johnson, 61.5%, 38, 913 votes
Molokai
Keani Rawlins-Fernandez, 42.8%, 27,066 votes
John Pele, 33.0%, 20,906 votes
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