Some Maui candidates who lost their primary election bids wound up spending more money per vote than their winning opponents.
Others spent significantly more per vote and beat out their challengers.
Winning Maui candidates in various races spent anywhere from less than $1 per vote to as much as $37 per vote, according to a Maui News analysis of campaign spending tallies and primary election results.
Kaniela Ing, who handily won the Democratic primary race for the South Maui state House District 11 seat, spent a little more than $11 per vote for each of the 1,108 votes he received.
Ing, who secured 43 percent of votes over his three opponents, reported spending a total of $12,372 on the primary election, according to the state Campaign Spending Commission.
Runner-up Netra Halperin, who secured 26.6 percent of votes, spent $8 for each of her 682 votes. (Halperin's breakdown discounts $25,845 in "forgiven loans" to herself that she reported as a campaign expense.
Colin Hanlon spent the most overall and per vote for the South Maui race. Hanlon, who received 13.6 percent of the vote, reported total expenditures of $17,305. That broke down to more than $49 for each of his 347 votes.
Former South Maui state Rep. Joe Bertram III spent no money on his campaign, but still got 12.7 percent of votes, or 324 votes.
Ing will face incumbent Republican Rep. George Fontaine in the November general election.
Fontaine reported spending $16,863 on his primary election campaign, meaning he spent more than $24 for each of his 685 votes. He did not have a Republican challenger.
In the 2010 general election, Fontaine spent close to $6 for each of his votes to beat out Bertram, who spent less than a nickel per vote in that election. Despite the large gap in spending, Fontaine won by a margin of only 48.9 percent to Bertram's 46 percent of votes, or a difference of 172 votes.
In the state Senate District 7 race - to represent East Maui, Upcountry, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe - longtime incumbent Sen. J. Kalani English crushed his opponents, but spent a significant amount on his winning campaign.
English spent $95,169 on his primary election campaign, which amounted to about $17 for each of his 5,456 votes.
English won 66.8 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Barbara Haliniak, who spent $14,153 on her campaign, or about $7 for each of her 1,994 votes.
The race included nonpartisan candidate Kanohowailuku Helm, who reported $17,583 in campaign expenditures, meaning he spent more than $55 for each of his 316 votes. Helm did not secure enough votes to advance to the general election.
With no Republican challenger, English won outright.
Democratic state Rep. Gil Keith-Agaran spent almost twice as much per vote as his opponent to win his bid for re-election to the Central Maui House District 9 seat.
Keith-Agaran spent $84,038 on his primary campaign, which broke down to about $37 for each of his 2,282 votes.
He beat out longtime Maui County Council Member Joe Pontanilla, who spent $19.80 for each of his votes. Pontanilla spent $31,350 total on his campaign.
With no Republican challenger, Keith-Agaran secured his re-election.
In the nonpartisan County Council race to fill Pontanilla's Kahului seat, candidates Don Guzman and Alan Fukuyama were the top two vote-getters and will advance to the general election.
Guzman received 46 percent of votes, and spent almost $4 for each of his 11,916 votes, while Fukuyama spent less $1 per vote for his 7,596 votes.
Incumbent County Council member Mike Victorino, who holds the Wailuku residency seat, spent close to $5 apiece for his 15,001 votes to secure 58 percent of votes in his race. Victorino reported spending $70,091 on his primary campaign.
Challenger Joe Blackburn spent $26,388 on his campaign, or close to $6 apiece for his 4,676 votes.
Both Victorino and Blackburn advanced to the Nov. 6 general election.
* Nanea Kalani can be reached at nkalani@mauinews.com.
