Democrat lawmakers wrap up victories in state races

Final votes added to incumbents’ early leads

All of Maui County's incumbent state lawmakers are headed back to the Legislature in January after building on their leads and securing victories in the general election late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning.

The incumbents surged to early advantages when the first results were released at around 11 p.m. Tuesday, with a few hundred more votes added to each race by the time the final results came out shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday.

In Central Maui's Senate District 5, one of the most populated districts with the biggest turnout, incumbent Democratic Sen. Gil Keith-Agaran won with 13,888 votes, or 60.1 percent, to Republican Christy Kajiwara-Gusman's 6,679 votes, or 28.9 percent, and Aloha 'Aina candidate Rynette Ipo Keen's 1,028 votes, or 4.5 percent. There were 1,490 blank and nine over votes.

"I'm happy the community had enough trust in me to send me back," Keith-Agaran said Wednesday. "And I'm looking forward to next session. . . . It's going to be a struggle in terms of fashioning a budget that balances everything that needs to be done and providing ways for the economy to come back."

Keith-Agaran ended up going to bed before the results came out. He said he couldn't recall an election night quite like it, pointing out that in the past, collecting and delivering ballots from rural areas and the Neighbor Islands sometimes slowed the release of the printout. However, this time it was the massive lines at Oahu's two voter service centers.

"I think probably people wanted to vote in the presidential election, and maybe they learned fairly late that they could still vote even if they had not met the Oct. 5 deadline (to register)," he said. "I think there were probably a fair number of people that had their mail-in ballots and had not sent it in and they wanted to make sure their ballots were counted."

However, he saw the turnout as a positive thing, "the first time in a long time" that all the counties finished with over 60 percent. He said a possible improvement for the next time could be adding more voter service centers, a concern echoed by some other lawmakers and civic rights groups. Earlier this year the state Legislature was considering a measure that would have let Maui County establish a center in East Maui, but the pandemic brought the session and the bill to a halt, he said.

Keith-Agaran was the only Maui senator who had to defend his seat this year, while all the House seats were up for reelection.

In Central Maui's District 9, Democratic Rep. Justin Woodson won with 7,015 votes, or 74 percent, to Aloha 'Aina candidate Kahala Jen Chrupalyk's 1,383 votes, or 14.6 percent. The race had 1,083 blank and five over votes.

In West Maui's District 10, Democratic Rep. Angus McKelvey regained his seat with 5,837 votes, or 56.2 percent, to Republican Kanamu Balinbin's 3,162 votes, or 30.5 percent, and Aloha 'Aina candidate Travis Gyldstrand's 606 votes, or 5.8 percent. There were 768 blank and 10 over votes.

In South Maui's District 11, Democratic Rep. Tina Wildberger was reelected with 7,659 votes, or 64 percent, to Aloha 'Aina candidate Howard Greenberg's 2,666 votes, or 22.3 percent. Results included 1,642 blank and two over votes.

And, in District 13, which covers East Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe, Democratic Rep. Lynn DeCoite also secured her seat with 7,717 votes, or 64.1 percent, to Aloha 'Aina candidate Theresa Kapaku's 1,999 votes, or 16.6 percent, and Republican Robin Vanderpool's 1,583 votes, or 13.1 percent. There were 742 blank and five over votes.

Watching the political upheaval on the Mainland, some local candidates were careful about their alliances on the campaign trail this year.

"I didn't associate myself too much with the Trump campaign in Hawaii, because I do know I have a Democratic voter base," said Kajiwara-Gusman, a "born-and-raised" Democrat turned Republican.

Kajiwara-Gusman said people thought she was crazy to run as a Republican in a devoted blue state, but said she switched because her political views have changed, and because "it afforded us a chance to run a whole entire season, like go all the way through the general, and not just be knocked out in the primary, because I knew there was no way I could beat the Democratic incumbent."

She was optimistic despite losing to Keith-Agaran, saying that they "did a lot better than we thought" and that her campaign committee of mostly 20-somethings learned a lot on the trail, spurring some to look into joining local boards and commissions.

"I met so many people on the Republican side," she said. "That's been the most rewarding. I've networked with so many people. It will be interesting to see how we can get everybody to come together, because there's great ideas on both sides. I still have my old Democrat friends. . . . I'm excited to see what doors open for us in the future."

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.