HomePasifikaIncumbents keep control on Maui county council

Incumbents keep control on Maui county council

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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