Lynn DeCoite, Yuki Lei Sugimura and Leo Caires have been selected from a pool of six applicants to vie for the Senate District 7 vacancy left by Sen. J. Kalani English’s retirement, according to an announcement Saturday.

Determined by the Maui County Democratic Party’s Senate District 7 selection body, the three names were announced Saturday and sent in a formal letter Saturday afternoon to Gov. David Ige, who will make the final decision.

The governor has until June 30 to select one of the three to serve as the next senator for District 7, which covers East and Upcountry Maui, Molokai and Lanai.

Decoite, currently the state representative for House District 13 and a resident of Ho’olehua, is a small business owner, farmer and rancher.

DeCoite

Current Maui County Council Member Sugimura, who lives in Kula and holds the Upcountry residency seat, has served as vice chairwoman of the Maui County Democratic Party.

Described as a community leader, Caires, also of Kula, is an agricultural business owner and a renewable energy executive.

“These three candidates have deep roots in the district and I am confident that all of them would represent the ‘canoe district’ well,” Democratic Party of Hawai’i Chairman Tyler Dos Santos-Tam said in the news release. “All three possess a small business background, which will help to guide Maui Nui and the entire state toward economic recovery.”

The three bested applicants Riki Hokama of Lanai, a delegate to the 1978 Constitutional Convention and longtime Maui County Council member who served as budget chairman and council chairman; Timothy Lara of Lanai, a leader in sustainable tourism, nonprofit board member and former Maui County Democratic Party chairman; and Walter Ritte of Molokai, a former high school teacher, coach, OHA trustee and longtime community leader and advocate.

The selection process meeting was conducted over Zoom and broadcast live via Facebook on Saturday morning. The selection body included 54 members, and each member was entitled to vote for up to three of the prospective candidates.

Sugimura

Jonathan Starr, chairman of the party’s District 13 Council, said the selection process embodied “grassroots democracy in action.

“This process showed the passion of Maui Democrats to be involved in the community,” Starr said in the news release. “Democrats love to participate in this type of process. Every Maui Democrat I’ve known stays involved because of a passion for some positive cause, whether it’s environment, jobs and quality of employment opportunities, health care, education, ag and food security, equality, etc.”